Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Up 1.2% – Should You Buy?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price traded up 1.2% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $49.65 and last traded at $49.63. 1,198,016 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 9,893,822 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.20.

Altria Group Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $85.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MO. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% during 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 during the period. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $36,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.