Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Down 0.2%

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MO. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.3 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $78.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.61, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50 day moving average is $45.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.81.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 82.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 21,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $976,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.8% in the second quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 55,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,537,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 85,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,911,000 after purchasing an additional 2,162 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 78.8% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 20,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $941,000 after acquiring an additional 9,106 shares during the period. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 61.3% in the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

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.