Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Up 1.3% – Time to Buy?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price traded up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $53.43 and last traded at $53.37. 1,301,489 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 7,408,479 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.66.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $90.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.15, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.96 and a 200-day moving average of $52.54.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MO. OneAscent Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $324,000. Private Portfolio Partners LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC now owns 21,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,136,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $209,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Altria Group by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,190,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,544,000 after buying an additional 49,922 shares during the period. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in Altria Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 59,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,110,000 after buying an additional 704 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.