Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading 0.4% Higher – Time to Buy?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price rose 0.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $56.29 and last traded at $56.15. Approximately 1,710,137 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 7,730,652 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.95.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research 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.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Up 2.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $96.59 billion, a PE ratio of 8.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.01.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 5.4% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 25,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,321 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.0% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 387,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,772,000 after buying an additional 25,206 shares during the period. Balentine LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 12,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $860,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 8,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.