Altria Group (NYSE:MO) is trading 1.2% higher

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO – Get a Free Report) shot up 1.2% in afternoon trading on Friday. The stock traded as high as $41.83 and last traded at $41.78. During afternoon trading, 1,768,230 shares changed hands, an 85% decline from the average session volume of 11,593,800 shares. The stock previously closed at $41.30.

Changes in analyst ratings

Various research agencies have given their opinion on MO. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Check out our latest report on Altria Group

Altria Group is trading 1.9% higher

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.91 and its two-hundred-day simple moving average is $41.43. The stock has a market cap of $72.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.21, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO – Get Free Report) posted its latest quarterly results on Thursday, February 1. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted earnings per share of $1.18. Altria Group’s revenue fell 1.2% year-on-year. As a group, research analysts expect Altria Group, Inc. will post earnings per share of 5.09 for the current year.

Altria Group announces dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25 will receive a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a dividend of $3.92 annually and a dividend yield of 9.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio currently stands at 85.78%.

Altria Group said its board on Thursday, February 1, approved a stock repurchase plan that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion of outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are often an indication that company management believes the stock is undervalued.

Hedge funds weigh on Altria Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently changed their holdings of MO. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group shares by 154.4% in the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company, valued at $25,000, after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. LP acquired a new stake in Altria Group stock worth $25,000 in the first quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group worth $26,000 in the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% in the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. 57.41% of the shares are currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About the Altria Group

(Get a free report)

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company mainly offers cigarettes 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.

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