Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading 0.4% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) traded up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $53.11 and last traded at $52.79. 1,846,221 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 6,976,216 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.60.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Citigroup boosted 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. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.3 %

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $53.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.29. The company has a market cap of $89.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.73%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Algert Global LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 32.0% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 9,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 2,330 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 507,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,569 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 60.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 1,313 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $207,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $127,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.