Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Up 0.2% – Here’s Why

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) traded up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $50.75 and last traded at $50.31. 3,245,033 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 10,063,364 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.23.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MO. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.17.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $85.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.53.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business posted $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 154.4% during the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

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.