Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Up 0.3% – Here’s What Happened

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s share price traded up 0.3% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $53.50 and last traded at $52.72. 1,289,036 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 7,508,309 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $89.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.02, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a fifty day moving average of $53.29 and a 200 day moving average of $52.42.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.29%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MO. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 6.2% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 347,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,740,000 after acquiring an additional 20,265 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 12,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $632,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter worth $210,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 32.7% during the third quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 2,851 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.6% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 112,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,754,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.