Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Down 0% – Here’s Why

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares were down 0% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $53.91 and last traded at $54.44. Approximately 1,948,821 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 9,864,460 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.46.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.17.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.6 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $92.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.29.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.02. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.54%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Equitable Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 8,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $428,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $11,660,000. Beckerman Institutional LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $247,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,204,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 77,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,952,000 after acquiring an additional 840 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.