Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Down 1.8%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s share price was down 1.8% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $51.73 and last traded at $52.03. Approximately 2,466,593 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 10,193,040 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.96.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America upped 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 raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.67.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $86.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $51.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results 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 firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.07%. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Albion Financial Group UT raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 49.1% in the 1st quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 911 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,960,000 after buying an additional 16,541 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $556,000. Finally, Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $982,000. 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.