Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Down 0.9%

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MO. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. 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 report on Monday, September 9th. 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. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.67.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.42. The stock has a market cap of $90.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.70%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

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