Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Up 0.4% – Should You Buy?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s share price shot up 0.4% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $54.79 and last traded at $54.25. 1,118,350 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 9,798,856 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.05.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on MO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $93.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $51.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.05.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.39%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 63.9% in the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

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.