Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Down 0.7% – Here’s What Happened

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares dropped 0.7% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $53.50 and last traded at $53.45. Approximately 1,052,520 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 7,262,898 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $90.44 billion, a PE ratio of 8.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.54.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 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.