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

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares fell 0.4% on Monday . The company traded as low as $49.33 and last traded at $49.65. 1,004,549 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 10,019,254 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.84.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Barclays upped their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America increased their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.59. The firm has a market cap of $85.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.20%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 85.36%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,788 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 415.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,935,000 after buying an additional 793,327 shares during the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth $27,613,000. Finally, Distillate Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 182,943.7% in the second quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 569,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,930,000 after purchasing an additional 568,955 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.