Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading 0.9% Higher

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shot up 0.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $43.83 and last traded at $43.79. 1,914,786 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 11,888,219 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.38.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. 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. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $75.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.45.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. Analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conning Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 9.8% in the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 9,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 853 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.9% in the first quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 9,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 48.2% in the first quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC now owns 11,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 3,728 shares during the last quarter. Prairiewood Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.3% in the first quarter. Prairiewood Capital LLC now owns 6,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MBA Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 47.0% in the first quarter. MBA Advisors LLC now owns 7,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 2,522 shares during 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.