Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Up 0.2%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price was up 0.2% on Friday . The company traded as high as $45.62 and last traded at $45.54. Approximately 1,411,775 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 11,168,102 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.46.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.1 %

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.69. The firm has a market cap of $77.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders 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 yield of 8.63%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in Altria Group by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,050,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,166,000 after purchasing an additional 52,528 shares during the period. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank raised its stake in Altria Group by 144.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank now owns 11,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 6,585 shares during the period. Kinloch Capital LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kinloch Capital LLC now owns 41,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,758,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 884,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,179,000 after acquiring an additional 10,433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 563,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,712,000 after acquiring an additional 101,670 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.