Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Down 0.7%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s share price dropped 0.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $50.63 and last traded at $50.81. Approximately 1,536,190 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 10,549,236 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.19.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.08.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.1 %

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $47.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.67. The company has a market capitalization of $88.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MO. Delta Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.9% in the second quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 76,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,489,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. SP Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% in the second quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 8,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Certuity LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 13,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $622,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.