Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Down 0.9% – Time to Sell?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price was down 0.9% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $51.26 and last traded at $51.41. Approximately 2,313,076 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 6,237,928 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.7 %

The company’s fifty day moving average is $54.10 and its 200 day moving average is $52.10. The stock has a market cap of $86.72 billion, a PE ratio of 8.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.97%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $421,000. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $1,566,000. Austin Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $245,000. GFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. GFS Advisors LLC now owns 7,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 106,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,684,000 after buying an additional 10,899 shares during the last quarter. 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.