Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Down 0.8%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares dropped 0.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $50.40 and last traded at $50.53. Approximately 1,036,452 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 10,155,509 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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 research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays raised 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. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of 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 given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.67.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $86.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.25.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 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 company had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.08%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 85.36%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Delta Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 18.5% in the second quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its holdings in Altria Group by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 76,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,489,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. SP Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 8,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Certuity LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 13,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.