Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Shares Down 1.4%

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s share price traded down 1.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $45.66 and last traded at $45.67. 2,338,500 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 11,521,324 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.32.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.3 %

The company has a market cap of $78.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $43.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.92.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 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 Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.62%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 82.01%.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Altria Group

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MO. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 22.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 427,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,630,000 after purchasing an additional 77,227 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 415.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,935,000 after buying an additional 793,327 shares in the last quarter. FSA Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth approximately $206,000. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 10.0% in the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 102,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,460,000 after buying an additional 9,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth approximately $293,000. 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.