Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Up 0.2% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) rose 0.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $55.18 and last traded at $54.94. Approximately 1,486,963 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 7,404,230 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.85.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MO. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.4 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.41, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.41%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MO. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 420.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.