Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Down 0.5% – Should You Sell?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) was down 0.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $50.95 and last traded at $51.22. Approximately 1,847,205 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 4,873,937 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.46.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MO. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.33.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $86.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.59, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $54.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.76.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.92%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MO. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,351,000. AdvisorShares Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 10,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 2,677,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,938,000 after buying an additional 224,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 14,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. 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.