Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Sets New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high 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 trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $54.19.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 729.8% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company's stock worth $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3,786.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,743,443 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698,585 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 25.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company's stock worth $295,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,703 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Altria Group by 415.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,935,000 after purchasing an additional 793,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company's stock worth $205,916,000 after buying an additional 670,858 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.2 %

The business's 50 day simple moving average is $51.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.99 billion, a PE ratio of 9.17, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. Analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is 68.92%.

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.