Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Up 0.9%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares rose 0.9% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $43.83 and last traded at $43.79. Approximately 1,914,786 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 11,888,219 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.38.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.0 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $42.33 and a 200 day moving average of $41.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in Altria Group by 4.7% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 91,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,881,000 after buying an additional 4,090 shares during the period. Vicus Capital lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 6,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,786 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 31,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 601,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,287,000 after purchasing an additional 6,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter worth about $288,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.