Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Rating Increased to Buy at Bank of America

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) was upgraded by equities researchers at Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $65.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $55.00. Bank of America‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 13.40% from the stock’s current price.

MO has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $57.32 on Friday. Altria Group has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $58.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $53.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% during the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Company Profile

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.