Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group (NYSE:MO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Sunday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of 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 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One 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 target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $41.09 on Friday. Altria Group has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $48.04. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.43. The firm has a market cap of $70.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Altria Group will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.54%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 154.4% in the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.