Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading 0.4% Higher – Time to Buy?

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) traded up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $56.29 and last traded at $56.15. 1,710,137 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 7,730,652 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.95.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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 research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted 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. Two 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, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Up 2.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $96.59 billion, a PE ratio of 8.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.01.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.14%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after buying an additional 3,910,738 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth about $91,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 729.8% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.