Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Down 0.1%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares were down 0.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $48.71 and last traded at $49.07. Approximately 1,690,484 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 10,701,672 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MO shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.10.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.6 %

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,209,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,778,000 after buying an additional 10,858 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 125.2% during the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $623,000 after buying an additional 8,583 shares in the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC now owns 7,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFG Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 14,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $579,000 after buying an additional 559 shares in 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.