StockNews.com Upgrades Altria Group (NYSE:MO) to Buy

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on MO. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $36.10 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.82.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $43.66. 8,999,438 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,842,448. The stock has a market cap of $76.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.53. Altria Group has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group will post 5.08 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,008,000. Skyline Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $368,000. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $598,000. MONECO Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 446.9% during the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 63,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,550,000 after acquiring an additional 51,663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Executive Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Executive Wealth Group LLC now owns 18,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $754,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

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.