Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $45.00 to $46.00. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Altria Group traded as high as $54.96 and last traded at $54.96, with a volume of 311126 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.19.

Several other analysts also recently commented on MO. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup increased their price target on 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 boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% during the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Altria Group by 33.4% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.66. The company has a market capitalization of $93.38 billion, a PE ratio of 9.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.92%.

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.