Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Up 1.8% – Should You Buy?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) traded up 1.8% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $53.44 and last traded at $53.00. 2,918,803 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 6,637,398 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.05.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Two research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $89.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $53.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.29.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.73%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Altria Group by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 729.8% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,511,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731,932 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3,786.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,743,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698,585 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,079,919,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,916,000 after purchasing an additional 670,858 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.