Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Up 1%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price was up 1% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $50.95 and last traded at $50.90. Approximately 1,472,063 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 10,252,292 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.39.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MO. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Barclays increased their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.67.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $87.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.85.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $1.02 dividend. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.01%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 12,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 953 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $217,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $445,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

About Altria Group

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.