Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO – Get Free Report) fell 0.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $41.61 and last traded at $41.85. 2,030,904 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 11,640,479 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.11.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.
Altria Group Price Performance
The firm has a market cap of $71.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.16, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50 day moving average is $41.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.46.
Altria Group (NYSE:MO – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. Research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.08 EPS for the current year.
Altria Group Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.40%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.78%.
Altria Group declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.
Institutional Trading of Altria Group
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Altria Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 404,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,248,000 after acquiring an additional 6,324 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $974,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,711,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,690,000 after purchasing an additional 89,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank bought a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $498,000. 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.