Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading 0.8% Higher – Time to Buy?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares traded up 0.8% on Friday . The company traded as high as $52.17 and last traded at $51.64. 2,195,717 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 6,494,966 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.09. The stock has a market cap of $87.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.76, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.92%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 420.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Fairman Group LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 85.1% in the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 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.