Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group (NYSE:MO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday morning.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a sell rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a buy rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $40.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $69.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $41.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.43. Altria Group has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.62%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MO. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 7.3% during the third quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 31,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,304,000 after purchasing an additional 2,122 shares in the last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth $3,128,000. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 293.6% in the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after buying an additional 41,432 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.