Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Down 0.5%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) dropped 0.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $40.73 and last traded at $40.76. Approximately 1,651,923 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 11,569,462 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

The firm's 50 day moving average is $41.83 and its 200 day moving average is $41.44. The firm has a market cap of $69.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. Altria Group's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MO. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 154.4% during the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 103.2% during the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 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.