Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Down 0.9% – Should You Sell?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares traded down 0.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $51.26 and last traded at $51.41. 2,313,076 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 6,237,928 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.86.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.7 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.10. The stock has a market cap of $86.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.97%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.92%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,679,000 after purchasing an additional 46,697 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 15.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,603,000 after purchasing an additional 40,574 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Altria Group by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,215,000 after buying an additional 19,893 shares during the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 4.2% in the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,476,000 after buying an additional 10,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 2.3% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,330,000 after buying an additional 32,318 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.