Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Up 0.8% – Here’s What Happened

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares rose 0.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $54.00 and last traded at $53.97. Approximately 1,099,951 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 9,816,423 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. 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 report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.0 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $91.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.81.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.55%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MO. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. 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.