Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Down 0.5% – Here’s What Happened

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price was down 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 were traded during trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 8,527,631 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. 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 assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.1 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.47. The company has a market cap of $97.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. As a group, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 7.10%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. 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.