Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Up 1% – Here’s Why

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) shares traded up 1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $60.07 and last traded at $60.05. 1,476,644 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 8,710,933 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.47.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.8%

The firm has a market cap of $101.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $58.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.80%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its stake in Altria Group by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 274,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,342,000 after purchasing an additional 16,376 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 16,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $878,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. RoundAngle Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,362,000. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 17,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,781 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

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.