Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Down 1.1% – Here’s Why

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) dropped 1.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $55.51 and last traded at $55.38. Approximately 1,615,630 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 7,399,896 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut 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, January 31st. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $93.16 billion, a PE ratio of 8.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $52.65 and its 200 day moving average is $52.82.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.42%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Altria Group by 5.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,193,687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134,748 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Altria Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,164,681,000 after purchasing an additional 76,004 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Altria Group by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 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.