Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $58.59 and last traded at $57.83, with a volume of 807588 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $57.31.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $98.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.96.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

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 given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Financial Advocates Investment Management bought a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 11,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 14,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 2,485 shares during the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 122.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 16,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $850,000 after purchasing an additional 9,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.4% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 25,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,310,000 after buying an additional 1,321 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.