Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Down 0.4% – What’s Next?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares traded down 0.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $56.00 and last traded at $56.11. 2,609,745 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 8,992,695 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.36.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $95.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $56.22 and its 200-day moving average is $54.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 18.3% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 7,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,041,000. Wealthquest Corp bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth $209,000. Chelsea Counsel Co. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 7.8% during the third quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 20,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,056,000 after buying an additional 1,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 35.9% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 13,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $672,000 after buying an additional 3,478 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Company Profile

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.