Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Up 0.1%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) shot up 0.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $43.40 and last traded at $43.30. 1,446,061 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 11,731,130 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.26.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MO. UBS Group reissued a "sell" rating and set a $36.10 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.82.

Altria Group Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $76.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.43, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.65. The business's fifty day moving average price is $41.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.53.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The business's revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 9.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 103.2% in the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.