Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Up 0.4%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares shot up 0.4% on Friday . The company traded as high as $49.63 and last traded at $49.51. 1,335,805 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 10,804,586 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.33.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MO. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Bank of America increased their target price on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.10.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $85.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.33.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hoylecohen LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hoylecohen LLC now owns 21,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $975,000 after buying an additional 1,728 shares during the period. Bellecapital International Ltd. grew its stake in Altria Group by 191.4% in the second quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. now owns 22,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 14,776 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 0.6% in the second quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 36,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,673,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the period. Shilanski & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.6% during the second quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. now owns 106,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,855,000 after purchasing an additional 3,707 shares during the period. Finally, CFM Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.4% during the second quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC now owns 81,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is 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.