Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Down 0.5% – Here’s What Happened

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares dropped 0.5% on Monday . The company traded as low as $49.24 and last traded at $49.35. Approximately 844,112 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 9,916,150 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.61.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on MO shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.20.

Altria Group Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $85.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $51.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.94.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.36%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter worth $3,554,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 75,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,608 shares during the period. Thompson Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 20.5% during the 1st quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 9.3% during the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 103,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,505,000 after buying an additional 8,777 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.