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

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) dropped 0.6% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $51.47 and last traded at $51.52. Approximately 1,105,645 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 10,443,711 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.81.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.08.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.92. The firm has a market cap of $88.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. Altria Group’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789,788 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association grew its stake in Altria Group by 103.9% in the fourth quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 1,803,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,742,000 after purchasing an additional 919,058 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,674,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,567,000 after purchasing an additional 915,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in Altria Group by 131.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,418,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,211,000 after purchasing an additional 805,051 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.