Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading 0.8% Higher

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s share price traded up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $51.05 and last traded at $50.91. 1,655,091 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 10,196,010 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.67.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.8 %

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $51.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.69. The firm has a market cap of $86.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.12%. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 85.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MO. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 154.4% in the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.