Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Up 2.7% – Time to Buy?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price traded up 2.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $59.78 and last traded at $59.75. 4,300,727 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 8,830,998 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MO. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $55.07 and its 200 day moving average is $53.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

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.