Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Reaches New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $59.78 and last traded at $59.42, with a volume of 2069690 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $58.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Up 2.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $101.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.83%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.29%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 5,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $681,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 4,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.