Altria Group (NYSE:MO) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share on Wednesday, April 10th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.13%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 13th.

A number of research firms have also recently commented on MO. Analysts at Bank of America downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note to investors on Tuesday. They now have a $36.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $35.00. On the ratings front, analysts at Jefferies Group raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $33.00 to $34.00 in a research note to investors on Tuesday, February 19th. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, analysts at TheStreet reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note to investors on Monday, February 4th.

Shares of Altria Group (MO) traded down 1.77% during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $33.6943. Altria Group (MO) has a one year low of $29.77 and a one year high of $36.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $33.81. The company has a market cap of $67.495 billion and a P/E ratio of 16.66.

Altria Group last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 31st. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.55. The company had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Altria Group has set its FY13 guidance at $2.35-2.41 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group (MO) will post $2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group, Inc. is a holding company. As of December 31, 2009, Altria Group, Inc.’s wholly owned subsidiaries included Philip Morris USA Inc.

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