Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Up 0.3%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares were up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $46.25 and last traded at $46.22. Approximately 1,207,424 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 11,540,765 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.08.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. StockNews.com lowered 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 increased their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.3 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.83. The company has a market cap of $79.35 billion, a PE ratio of 9.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.48%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Altria Group declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,128,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 293.6% in the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 41,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Altria Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,727,000 after buying an additional 4,789 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.