Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading 1.2% Higher - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Altria shares rose 1.2% to about $68.73, while trading volume was roughly 30% below the average session volume. Analysts’ consensus rating is “Hold,” with an average price target of $70.11.
• The company narrowly missed quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.48 in EPS versus $1.50 expected, although revenue of $5.36 billion slightly exceeded estimates and grew 1.2% year over year.
• Altria raised its quarterly dividend to $1.11 per share, equivalent to a 6.5% annualized yield, but its payout ratio remains high at 89.45%.

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) traded up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MO shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on Altria Group from $64.00 to $58.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $70.11.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.2%

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. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $69.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.10.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $926,000 after acquiring an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 86.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,361 shares of the company's stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 9,630 shares of the company's stock valued at $565,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $346,000. Finally, AXA S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,752,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.