Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading 0.5% Higher

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s share price traded up 0.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $44.20 and last traded at $44.05. 1,438,533 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 11,793,033 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.82.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $42.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.88%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,456,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,857,271,000 after purchasing an additional 840,559 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,609,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,432,000 after buying an additional 42,490 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,701,000 after buying an additional 242,442 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,526,000 after buying an additional 1,343,094 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,174,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,278,000 after buying an additional 722,258 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, 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.