Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Down 1.4% – What’s Next?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price fell 1.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $50.63 and last traded at $50.75. 1,914,975 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 6,363,190 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.47.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.6 %

The company has a market cap of $88.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $54.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.09.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.84%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 163.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 50,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,317,000 after acquiring an additional 31,568 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 68.5% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 66,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,008,000 after acquiring an additional 26,853 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 81,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,726,000 after purchasing an additional 7,323 shares during the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth $367,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,703 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.