Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Up 2.7% – Should You Buy?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price traded up 2.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $59.78 and last traded at $59.75. 4,300,727 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 8,830,998 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 62.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in Altria Group by 5.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910,738 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $91,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Altria Group by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $859,257,000 after buying an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.