Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Up 3% – Time to Buy?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares were up 3% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $71.84 and last traded at $71.4730. Approximately 11,198,616 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 22% from the average session volume of 9,146,557 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.38.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MO. Freedom Broker raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Altria Group from $64.00 to $58.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.11.

Altria Group Stock Up 3.0%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $68.01 and a 200-day moving average of $69.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.08, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.42.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.48 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $5.35 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 315.29% and a net margin of 33.99%.The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. Altria Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.610-5.720 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.2%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 93.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Altria Group

In related news, Director Kathryn McQuade acquired 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $67.62 per share, for a total transaction of $101,430.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 114,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,771,498.98. This trade represents a 1.32% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Titleist Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 11,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $749,000 after buying an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 24.9% during the third quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 35,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,462,000 after acquiring an additional 7,063 shares during the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.9% during the third quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $547,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.4% during the third quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 257,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,309,000 after acquiring an additional 22,125 shares during the period. Finally, Kaydan Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 6.1% during the third quarter. Kaydan Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc is a U.S.-based holding company focused primarily on tobacco and nicotine products. Through its operating companies, Altria manufactures and markets cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, oral nicotine products and electronic cigarettes. Its portfolio includes well-known brands such as Marlboro cigarettes, Copenhagen and Skoal smokeless tobacco, Black & Mild cigars, NJOY e-cigarettes and on! nicotine pouches.

Altria’s principal businesses include Philip Morris USA, the largest U.S.