Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Down 0.5%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price traded down 0.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $40.72 and last traded at $40.75. 10,407,370 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 19% from the average session volume of 12,885,098 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.95.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $69.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.92, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $41.83 and a 200 day moving average of $41.43.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.62%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 21,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $987,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.3% during the third quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 5,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $483,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.0% in the first quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Day & Ennis LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.9% in the third quarter. Day & Ennis LLC now owns 5,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.