Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Down 2.2% – What’s Next?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price fell 2.2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $57.35 and last traded at $57.52. 5,569,448 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 37% from the average session volume of 8,896,862 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.79.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $55.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.69. The company has a market cap of $94.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.30%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $91,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Altria Group by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $859,257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444,021 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.