Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Up 2% – Time to Buy?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares rose 2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $69.10 and last traded at $68.9130. Approximately 7,107,093 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 10,645,365 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.57.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $115.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $61.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.37.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $5.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 287.61% and a net margin of 29.84%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th were issued a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.2%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.16%.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,980,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,282,143,000 after buying an additional 1,903,530 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,830,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,275,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147,141 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 65,516,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,777,931,000 after acquiring an additional 6,265,780 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 45,984,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,651,383,000 after purchasing an additional 729,999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Altria Group by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,306,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,286,174,000 after purchasing an additional 335,089 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.