Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Up 0.2% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) rose 0.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $50.75 and last traded at $50.31. Approximately 3,245,033 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 10,063,364 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.23.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.17.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.3 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $51.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.19%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,793,000 after acquiring an additional 191,236 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Altria Group by 120.6% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,788 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,055,000 after buying an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 5.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,510,000 after buying an additional 243,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.6% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,655,000 after acquiring an additional 215,594 shares during 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.