Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Up 0.8% – Time to Buy?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price rose 0.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $58.48 and last traded at $58.20. Approximately 1,632,056 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 8,468,527 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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. Two equities research 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 has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.2 %

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $55.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.60. The firm has a market cap of $98.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp grew its stake in Altria Group by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 5,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $681,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc raised its position 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 valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp lifted its holdings 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

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.