Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading 0.9% Higher

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s share price traded up 0.9% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $43.83 and last traded at $43.79. 1,914,786 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 11,888,219 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.38.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.45. The company has a market cap of $75.11 billion, a PE ratio of 9.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Altria Group declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 154.4% during the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the period. Accordant Advisory Group Inc acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.