Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Up 0.6% – Here’s Why

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) rose 0.6% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $51.20 and last traded at $51.14. Approximately 1,133,520 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 6,422,816 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.81.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $86.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $54.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.10.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.99%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 420.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter worth about $41,000. Fairman Group LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 85.1% during the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand.