Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading 0.6% Higher

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) traded up 0.6% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $43.65 and last traded at $43.18. 4,255,577 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 11,857,586 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.92.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MO. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $74.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.07, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.47.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.04%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

Altria Group declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 154.4% in the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.