Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Up 0.1% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) rose 0.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $49.99 and last traded at $49.75. Approximately 978,037 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 10,046,237 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.68.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.17.

Altria Group Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $85.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50-day moving average is $51.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.19%. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after buying an additional 4,789,788 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 415.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,935,000 after acquiring an additional 793,327 shares in the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth about $27,613,000. Finally, Distillate Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 182,943.7% in the 2nd quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 569,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,930,000 after purchasing an additional 568,955 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.