Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Up 0.3% – Here’s What Happened

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s share price rose 0.3% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $50.09 and last traded at $50.09. Approximately 866,040 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 9,825,591 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.20.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.5 %

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $51.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.06. The company has a market capitalization of $84.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.21%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 70.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MO. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% during the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth $44,000. 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.