Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Up 1.3% – Should You Buy?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares shot up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $56.77 and last traded at $56.56. 1,932,555 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 7,444,509 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.85.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MO. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Up 2.6 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $52.77 and a 200 day moving average of $52.91. The stock has a market cap of $96.93 billion, a PE ratio of 8.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.12%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MO. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $166,000. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $51,905,000. Yoffe Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $256,000. Finally, LifeWealth Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $549,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.