Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Up 3.1% – What’s Next?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shot up 3.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $67.43 and last traded at $67.1680. 7,520,152 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 24% from the average session volume of 9,855,951 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.18.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MO. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on Altria Group from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.88.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $112.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.34, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $66.58 and a 200-day moving average of $62.57.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $5.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 29.84% and a negative return on equity of 287.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be issued a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 103.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Altria Group

In other news, SVP Charles N. Whitaker sold 27,908 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total transaction of $1,885,743.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 180,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,221,318.33. This represents a 13.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,980,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,282,143,000 after purchasing an additional 1,903,530 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,830,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,275,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147,141 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 65,516,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,777,931,000 after acquiring an additional 6,265,780 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 45,984,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,651,383,000 after acquiring an additional 729,999 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,306,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,286,174,000 after acquiring an additional 335,089 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.