Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Down 0.5% – Here’s What Happened

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) dropped 0.5% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $57.62 and last traded at $57.81. Approximately 3,389,704 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 8,527,631 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $97.14 billion, a PE ratio of 8.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $54.42 and a 200 day moving average of $53.47.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.10%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MO. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,394,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,183,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 2,797,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,761,000 after acquiring an additional 120,017 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $330,000. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.