Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Up 0.2%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price shot up 0.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $43.95 and last traded at $43.76. 1,763,951 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 11,671,807 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.66.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $36.10 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.82.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.54. The firm has a market cap of $76.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 85.78%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MO. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

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.