Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Up 0.7% – Still a Buy?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares rose 0.7% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $50.34 and last traded at $50.19. Approximately 1,331,475 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 9,999,922 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America reduced their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.20.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.0 %

The company has a market cap of $85.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $51.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.63.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.18%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 17,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $718,000 after acquiring an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 45.6% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 39,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,589,000 after purchasing an additional 12,294 shares during the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at $598,000. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division boosted its position in Altria Group by 7.1% during the first quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 7,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. 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.