Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Up 1.2% After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shot up 1.2% on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $52.17 and last traded at $52.14. 1,514,157 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 7,509,943 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.54.

The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%.

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 dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.82%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MO. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 32.0% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 9,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 2,330 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 7.9% in the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 9,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $442,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at about $227,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.4% during the third quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 17,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $894,000 after buying an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.4% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 88,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,533,000 after buying an additional 2,961 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $88.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $53.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.29.

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.