Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Down 0.2% Following Insider Selling

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price traded down 0.2% during trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $43.46 and last traded at $43.50. 2,186,305 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 11,766,087 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.59.

Specifically, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Altria Group Stock Down 0.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $74.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.49.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.01%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,456,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,857,271,000 after acquiring an additional 840,559 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,609,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,432,000 after acquiring an additional 42,490 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,701,000 after acquiring an additional 242,442 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,174,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,278,000 after acquiring an additional 722,258 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by 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.