Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.02

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, May 16th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of 1.02 per share on Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th.

Altria Group has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 56 consecutive years. Altria Group has a dividend payout ratio of 73.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Altria Group to earn $5.54 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 73.6%.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.6%

MO stock traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $59.85. 5,819,536 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,729,686. The company has a market capitalization of $100.81 billion, a PE ratio of 9.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group has a twelve month low of $43.83 and a twelve month high of $61.26. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Altria Group stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 64.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,702 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 6,954 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.00.

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.