Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Down 2.5%

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) dropped 2.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $52.53 and last traded at $52.72. Approximately 2,080,543 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 10,233,661 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.08.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.67.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.9 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $50.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.24. The firm has a market cap of $91.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 85.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 349 shares during the period. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other 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.