Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Up 1.5% – Still a Buy?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares shot up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $57.52 and last traded at $57.58. 1,590,909 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 8,474,887 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.71.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Altria Group Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.51. The firm has a market cap of $97.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.08%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MO. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $91,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.