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

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) rose 0.2% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $51.25 and last traded at $51.16. Approximately 927,687 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 6,126,809 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.04.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $54.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.92. The stock has a market cap of $86.80 billion, a PE ratio of 8.65, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.97%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MO. Zhang Financial LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 18,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $979,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 91,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,798,000 after buying an additional 2,948 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Altria Group by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 15,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $820,000 after acquiring an additional 926 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 17,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,781 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently 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.