Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Down 0.9%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) dropped 0.9% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $52.63 and last traded at $52.69. Approximately 1,449,436 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 10,216,217 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.17.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.67.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average is $50.62 and its 200 day moving average is $46.29. The stock has a market cap of $90.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. Research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.73%. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MO. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 154.4% in the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas bought a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.