Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Down 0.5% – Should You Sell?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s share price dropped 0.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $57.62 and last traded at $57.81. Approximately 3,389,704 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 8,527,631 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.09.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $97.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.45.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. On average, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.09%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

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.