Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Down 0.4% - Here's What Happened

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 0.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $53.31 and last traded at $53.64. 1,025,307 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 7,340,000 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $90.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $52.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.55.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.65%. Altria Group's payout ratio is 62.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MO. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by 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.