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

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s share price fell 0.5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $52.01 and last traded at $52.58. 1,829,327 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 7,647,736 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $89.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $53.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.39.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.74%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MO. Algert Global LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 32.0% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 9,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $437,000 after buying an additional 2,330 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Altria Group by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 347,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,740,000 after purchasing an additional 20,265 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 28,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 7,994 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in Altria Group by 2.2% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 12,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $632,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Anglin Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% during the third quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC now owns 7,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the period. 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.