Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Down 0.4%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) was down 0.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $51.22 and last traded at $51.49. Approximately 2,049,075 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 10,195,284 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased 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. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.67.

Altria Group Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $86.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.57.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The company’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.08%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 85.36%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MO. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 12,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $217,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 76,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,087,000 after purchasing an additional 3,827 shares during 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.