Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Down 0.5%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s share price was down 0.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $40.73 and last traded at $40.76. Approximately 1,651,923 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 11,569,462 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.95.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on MO shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.1 %

The company has a market cap of $70.41 billion, a PE ratio of 8.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.44.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.56%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its board has approved a stock 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 buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 108,222.5% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,590,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $849,763,000 after purchasing an additional 18,573,146 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Altria Group by 4,665.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,972,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,241,000 after buying an additional 3,888,907 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Altria Group by 84.1% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,426,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,823,000 after buying an additional 2,478,576 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Altria Group by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,233,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $493,497,000 after buying an additional 2,436,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 6.4% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,302,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,896,798,000 after acquiring an additional 2,178,596 shares during the last quarter. 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.