Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Up 0.9% – Should You Buy?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares were up 0.9% on Monday . The company traded as high as $50.24 and last traded at $50.14. Approximately 1,161,193 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 9,805,374 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.71.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MO. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Barclays raised their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.20.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.6 %

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.23. The stock has a market cap of $85.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.17%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 85.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 63.9% during the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

About Altria Group

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.