Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Up 0% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) traded up 0% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $51.13 and last traded at $50.87. 1,203,824 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 6,000,031 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.85.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MO. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $54.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.88. The stock has a market cap of $86.37 billion, a PE ratio of 8.61, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 68.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MO. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter worth $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter worth $41,000. Fairman Group LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 85.1% during the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $52,000. 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.