Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Up 1.1% – Time to Buy?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s share price shot up 1.1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $56.09 and last traded at $55.98. 1,887,851 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 9,750,813 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.39.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.3 %

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $51.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.13. The stock has a market cap of $95.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.27%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 15.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,603,000 after buying an additional 40,574 shares during the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 4.2% during the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,476,000 after purchasing an additional 10,079 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 2.3% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,330,000 after purchasing an additional 32,318 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 729.8% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter worth about $483,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.