Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Up 1.1% – Time to Buy?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s share price shot up 1.1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $56.09 and last traded at $55.98. 1,887,851 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 9,750,813 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.39.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.3 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $51.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.13. The firm has a market cap of $95.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.27%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 68.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 63.9% during the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by 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.