Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Up 0.3% – Should You Buy?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares rose 0.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $50.38 and last traded at $50.07. Approximately 763,895 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 9,972,787 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on MO. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.20.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.6 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.24 billion, a PE ratio of 10.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.13%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 154.4% during the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the period. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter worth $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the second quarter worth $27,000. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other 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.