Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Down 0.8% – Here’s What Happened

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) fell 0.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $52.80 and last traded at $53.04. 2,588,578 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 6,778,399 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MO. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upped 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $53.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.29. The firm has a market cap of $87.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.91%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MO. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 410 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.