Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Up 0.6%

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) rose 0.6% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $43.65 and last traded at $43.18. Approximately 4,255,577 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 11,857,586 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.92.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.4 %

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $42.05 and its 200-day moving average is $41.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,128,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 293.6% in the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after acquiring an additional 41,432 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,727,000 after buying an additional 4,789 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.