Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Down 0.1% – Should You Sell?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares dropped 0.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $54.50 and last traded at $55.20. Approximately 1,463,402 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 9,761,530 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $51.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.09. The company has a market cap of $94.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 68.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% in 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. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth $44,000. 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.