Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) fell 1.8% on Monday . The company traded as low as $51.73 and last traded at $52.03. 2,466,593 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 10,193,040 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.96.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.67.

Altria Group Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.64. The company has a market capitalization of $86.83 billion, a PE ratio of 10.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.07%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 154.4% in the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter worth $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $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.