Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Up 0.1% – Here’s Why

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares shot up 0.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $57.87 and last traded at $57.63. 2,098,533 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 8,509,231 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MO. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.0 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.46. The firm has a market cap of $97.38 billion, a PE ratio of 8.79, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued 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 anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.08%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.