Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Sets New 12-Month High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Altria Group's stock reached a new 52-week high of $65.95, closing at $65.71 with over 10 million shares traded, signaling strong investor interest.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Altria, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price of $59.13, after recent adjustments from various research firms.
• The company declared a dividend of $1.02 per share, reflecting a 6.2% yield, indicating its ongoing commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $65.95 and last traded at $65.71, with a volume of 10644925 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $64.19.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC raised Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.13.

Altria Group Trading Up 2.4%

The stock has a market capitalization of $110.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $59.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.97.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. Altria Group's revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.92%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company's stock worth $9,364,216,000 after buying an additional 1,599,923 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company's stock worth $3,798,592,000 after acquiring an additional 3,483,487 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,724,475 shares of the company's stock worth $2,620,229,000 after acquiring an additional 764,221 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8,146.4% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 18,698,594 shares of the company's stock worth $1,122,290,000 after purchasing an additional 18,471,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock worth $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.

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