Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Down 1.1% - What's Next?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) shares were down 1.1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $59.65 and last traded at $59.76. Approximately 1,248,427 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 8,718,358 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.40.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. 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 research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Two research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.6 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $100.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.08, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $58.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.25.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.34%.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 158,117,225 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,490,196,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300,787 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 63,288,773 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,798,592,000 after buying an additional 3,483,487 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company's stock worth $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Altria Group by 0.3% in 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 grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% during 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. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.