Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading 0.6% Higher

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price traded up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $43.65 and last traded at $43.18. 4,255,577 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 11,857,586 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $74.49 billion, a PE ratio of 9.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.47.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.04%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Altria Group announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.3% in the third quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 5,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 7.0% in the first quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Day & Ennis LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 4.9% in the third quarter. Day & Ennis LLC now owns 5,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whitener Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 2.6% in the third quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.