Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Down 1.3% – Here’s Why

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) traded down 1.3% on Monday . The company traded as low as $68.45 and last traded at $68.62. 7,023,648 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 24% from the average session volume of 9,265,537 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.52.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $58.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Freedom Broker upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.11.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.3%

The firm has a market capitalization of $114.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.14.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by ($0.02). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 315.29% and a net margin of 33.99%.The company had revenue of $5.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Altria Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.610-5.720 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $1.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.4%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.67%.

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In other news, Director Kathryn McQuade acquired 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $67.62 per share, for a total transaction of $101,430.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 114,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,771,498.98. This trade represents a 1.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 1.1% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 126,073,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,070,964,000 after buying an additional 1,325,175 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,830,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,275,886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147,141 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 729,999 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,806,782,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth approximately $1,104,566,000. 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 tobacco and nicotine company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Through its operating companies, Altria develops, manufactures and markets cigarettes, cigars, oral tobacco products, nicotine pouches and electronic vaping products, with its business focused primarily on the United States.

Altria’s smokeable products portfolio includes Marlboro cigarettes, which are manufactured and marketed in the U.S. by Philip Morris USA, as well as Black & Mild cigars through John Middleton.