Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Up 1.2% – Still a Buy?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shot up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $69.18 and last traded at $68.7330. Approximately 6,475,507 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the average session volume of 9,281,459 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $58.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.11.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.2%

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $69.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.10. The firm has a market cap of $114.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.45.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.50 by ($0.02). Altria Group had a net margin of 33.99% and a negative return on equity of 315.29%. The firm had revenue of $5.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Altria Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.610-5.720 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $1.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.5%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 89.45%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd. now owns 9,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $682,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 29.7% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,379,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,237,000 after acquiring an additional 315,892 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.8% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 137,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,918,000 after purchasing an additional 7,550 shares during the period. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 29.0% in the second quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 12,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $913,000 after purchasing an additional 2,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 15.5% in the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 20,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,490,000 after buying an additional 2,743 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

About Altria Group

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a tobacco and nicotine company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Through its operating companies, Altria develops, manufactures and markets cigarettes, cigars, oral tobacco products, nicotine pouches and electronic vaping products, with its business focused primarily on the United States.

Altria’s smokeable products portfolio includes Marlboro cigarettes, which are manufactured and marketed in the U.S. by Philip Morris USA, as well as Black & Mild cigars through John Middleton.