Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Up 0.7%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares rose 0.7% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $45.97 and last traded at $45.73. Approximately 3,365,401 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 11,102,656 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.43.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.57, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.57%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Altria Group

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MO. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 154.4% in the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by 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.