Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 48,020,000 shares, a decrease of 20.4% from the March 31st total of 60,340,000 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 12,640,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of MO traded down $0.16 on Friday, reaching $43.38. The stock had a trading volume of 13,794,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,969,122. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.51 billion, a PE ratio of 9.08, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.18 and a 200 day moving average of $41.45. Altria Group has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The company's revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MO. UBS Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MO. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company's stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth $3,128,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 293.6% in the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company's stock worth $2,336,000 after buying an additional 41,432 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Altria Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.