Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Down 0.5% – Time to Sell?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price fell 0.5% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $52.01 and last traded at $52.58. 1,829,327 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 7,647,736 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.85.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on MO shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $89.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.39.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 32.0% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 9,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 2,330 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its position in Altria Group by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 347,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,740,000 after buying an additional 20,265 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 38.7% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 28,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 7,994 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 12,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $632,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Anglin Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% in the third quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC now owns 7,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

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.