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

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s share price traded down 0.6% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $49.08 and last traded at $49.12. 1,108,342 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 10,726,322 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.40.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target 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. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.10.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $84.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.28, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $46.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.47.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 company had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.96%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 82.01%.

Insider Activity at Altria Group

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $25,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

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.