Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Up 0.8% – What’s Next?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) rose 0.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $58.48 and last traded at $58.20. Approximately 1,632,056 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 8,468,527 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $54.80 and its 200 day moving average is $53.54. The company has a market capitalization of $98.21 billion, a PE ratio of 8.87, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.02%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 420.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other 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.