Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Short Interest Update

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 48,020,000 shares, a drop of 20.4% from the March 31st total of 60,340,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 12,640,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.4 %

MO stock traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $43.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,794,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,969,122. Altria Group has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $48.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average of $42.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.46.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Altria Group will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.04%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 154.4% during 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. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc purchased a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 103.2% during the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.