Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Up 0.6%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 0.6% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $44.00 and last traded at $43.76. Approximately 1,888,605 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 11,731,590 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.49.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $75.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. The firm's 50 day moving average is $42.62 and its 200 day moving average is $41.50.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The firm's revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.94%. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 154.4% in the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter worth $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

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.