Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Up 0.1% on Analyst Upgrade

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) shares shot up 0.1% during trading on Monday after StockNews.com upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as high as $54.05 and last traded at $53.94. 2,299,240 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 9,869,530 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.87.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on MO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.17.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $562,793,000 after purchasing an additional 191,236 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company's stock worth $295,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company's stock worth $230,510,000 after acquiring an additional 243,201 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in Altria Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company's stock worth $222,655,000 after acquiring an additional 215,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its stake in Altria Group by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company's stock worth $205,916,000 after acquiring an additional 670,858 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $51.44 and a 200-day moving average of $48.57. The stock has a market cap of $91.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. Altria Group's revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is an increase from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.57%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is 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.