Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Down 0.8% – What’s Next?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price fell 0.8% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $52.80 and last traded at $53.04. 2,588,578 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 6,778,399 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.45.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MO. Barclays boosted their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $89.04 billion, a PE ratio of 8.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50-day moving average of $53.88 and a 200 day moving average of $52.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.77%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 420.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

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.