Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Up 0.5% – Here’s Why

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares rose 0.5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $54.15 and last traded at $54.13. Approximately 803,946 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 9,854,854 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.88.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America dropped their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $90.74 billion, a PE ratio of 9.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $51.49 and a 200 day moving average of $48.70.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.62%. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MO. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 63.9% in the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 85.1% in the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. 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.