Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Down 0.6%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) dropped 0.6% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $46.60 and last traded at $46.67. Approximately 1,364,988 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 10,943,299 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.93.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on MO. Bank of America lifted their price target on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.10.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $80.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.01.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion for 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%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

Insider Activity at Altria Group

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MO. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Altria Group by 11.2% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 190,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,993,000 after purchasing an additional 19,108 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 39,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,668,000 after purchasing an additional 9,391 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 53.7% in the 3rd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 44,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,884,000 after purchasing an additional 15,651 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 46.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 381,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,030,000 after purchasing an additional 121,762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.