Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading 0.8% Higher

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) was up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $51.05 and last traded at $50.91. Approximately 1,655,091 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 10,196,010 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.67.

Altria Group Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $87.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $51.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.02%. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Delta Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 2.9% in the second quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 18.5% during the second quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 76,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,489,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. SP Asset Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 2.5% in the second quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 8,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Certuity LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 13,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. 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.