Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Up 0.8% After Dividend Announcement

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares rose 0.8% during mid-day trading on Friday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $58.68 and last traded at $58.54. Approximately 1,565,431 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 8,735,732 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.06.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.93%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.4%

The company has a fifty day moving average of $58.02 and a 200-day moving average of $55.50. The stock has a market cap of $99.17 billion, a PE ratio of 8.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MO. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 226.3% in the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

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.