Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $37.00 to $43.00. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Altria Group traded as high as $51.40 and last traded at $51.27, with a volume of 1020278 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $51.11.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.08.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,945,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 19,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $767,000 after buying an additional 5,128 shares during the last quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $333,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 33,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,371,000 after buying an additional 2,620 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $88.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50 day moving average is $47.67 and its 200-day moving average is $44.50.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.64%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

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.