Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Up 0.6%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price was up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $44.00 and last traded at $43.76. Approximately 1,888,605 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 11,731,590 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Altria Group Stock Up 0.9 %

The company has a market cap of $75.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.49.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Altria Group declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in 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 purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter worth $3,128,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $2,336,000 after acquiring an additional 41,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.