Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading 0% Higher

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price was up 0% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $42.91 and last traded at $42.89. Approximately 2,273,655 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 11,816,750 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.87.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $74.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.46.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 9.00%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 85.78%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,370,000. TI Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. TI Trust Inc. now owns 13,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after acquiring an additional 2,480 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 74,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,231,000 after acquiring an additional 6,419 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 15,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TRUE Private Wealth Advisors raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 14,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $640,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently 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.