Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Down 1.3% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) traded down 1.3% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $68.07 and last traded at $68.1110. 7,306,615 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 27% from the average session volume of 10,050,971 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.04.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $71.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Friday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.22.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.3%

The company has a market cap of $113.74 billion, a PE ratio of 14.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $66.83 and its 200-day moving average is $62.77.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.34% and a negative return on equity of 298.69%. Altria Group’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.560-5.72 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.2%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.70%.

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In related news, SVP Charles N. Whitaker sold 27,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total transaction of $1,885,743.56. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 180,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,221,318.33. This represents a 13.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,980,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,282,143,000 after purchasing an additional 1,903,530 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,830,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,275,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147,141 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 65,516,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,777,931,000 after acquiring an additional 6,265,780 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 45,984,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,651,383,000 after acquiring an additional 729,999 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,306,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,286,174,000 after acquiring an additional 335,089 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.