Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Up 0%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s share price shot up 0% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $42.91 and last traded at $42.89. 2,273,655 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 11,816,750 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.87.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MO shares. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $73.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $42.00 and its 200-day moving average is $41.44.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. Analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MO. Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,106,000. Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 37,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,623,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1,712.8% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 820,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,811,000 after purchasing an additional 775,681 shares in the last quarter. Busey Bank grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Busey Bank now owns 176,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,706,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 83,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,656,000 after purchasing an additional 3,999 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Altria Group

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.