Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group (NYSE:MO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Argus raised Altria Group to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $46.03 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.75. Altria Group has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $47.19. The firm has a market cap of $79.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.52%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 82.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MO. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 154.4% during the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

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.