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

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s share price shot up 0.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $50.81 and last traded at $50.43. 1,731,993 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 10,688,948 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.03.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.90.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.8 %

The company has a market cap of $86.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.55, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $47.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.19.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.77%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,701,000 after acquiring an additional 242,442 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789,788 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,060,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,510,000 after purchasing an additional 243,201 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Altria Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,888,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,655,000 after purchasing an additional 215,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 1.5% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,754,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,772,000 after buying an additional 54,096 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.