Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Down 0.2%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares dropped 0.2% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $45.91 and last traded at $45.94. Approximately 912,626 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 11,140,894 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $78.89 billion, a PE ratio of 9.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.81.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Altria Group

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789 shares in the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 5,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 57,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,304,000 after purchasing an additional 11,111 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.