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

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.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday. UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $36.10 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.82.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.1 %

MO stock opened at $43.62 on Wednesday. Altria Group has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $48.04. The stock has a market cap of $76.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.54, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $41.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.54.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MO. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $3,008,000. Skyline Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $368,000. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $598,000. Finally, MONECO Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 446.9% during the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 63,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,550,000 after purchasing an additional 51,663 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.