Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Down 3% – Here’s Why

Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) traded down 3% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $50.08 and last traded at $51.08. 6,063,273 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 16% from the average session volume of 7,257,009 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.66.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price 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. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.32. The company has a market capitalization of $88.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. On average, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 2.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,679,000 after acquiring an additional 46,697 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,603,000 after purchasing an additional 40,574 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Altria Group by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,215,000 after buying an additional 19,893 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,573,000 after buying an additional 12,011 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 2.3% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,330,000 after buying an additional 32,318 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.