Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Down 0.4% – What’s Next?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price dropped 0.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $53.31 and last traded at $53.64. Approximately 1,025,307 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 7,340,000 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of 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. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $91.30 billion, a PE ratio of 8.22, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.52.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.57%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,060,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp grew its holdings in Altria Group by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 5,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $681,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. 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.