Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Up 0.7%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) traded up 0.7% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $42.58 and last traded at $42.39. 2,821,495 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 11,747,912 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.7 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.38, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MO. 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 worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 103.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.