Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Down 0.6% – What’s Next?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s share price fell 0.6% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $53.80 and last traded at $53.97. 1,113,901 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 9,833,637 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MO shares. Citigroup raised their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $51.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.81. The stock has a market cap of $91.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.13, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The business’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MO. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 2,797,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,761,000 after acquiring an additional 120,017 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% in the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 8,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $203,000. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 6,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $338,000 after buying an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Capital Group boosted its position in Altria Group by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 72,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,718,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the period. 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.