Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Raised 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 note published on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a sell rating and set a $36.10 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $46.82.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.1 %

MO opened at $43.62 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $41.47 and a 200 day moving average of $41.56. Altria Group has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $48.04. The stock has a market cap of $76.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.54, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group will post 5.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 103.2% during the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, ZRC Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 67.6% in the fourth 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 period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.