Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Down 0.1% – Here’s What Happened

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price was down 0.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $54.50 and last traded at $55.20. Approximately 1,463,402 shares changed hands 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

Several research firms have weighed in on MO. Citigroup raised their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $94.08 billion, a PE ratio of 9.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day moving average of $51.52 and a 200 day moving average of $49.09.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. 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. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.35%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 68.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MO. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% in the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 85.1% in the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. 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.