Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Down 0.2% - Should You Sell?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 0.2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $59.72 and last traded at $59.78. Approximately 1,261,799 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 8,700,504 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MO. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 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 note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $100.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $58.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.58.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Vista Investment Partners II LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the company's stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 9,452 shares of the company's stock worth $567,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 12,049 shares of the company's stock worth $723,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.7% in the first quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,762 shares of the company's stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 11,381 shares of the company's stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.

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