Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading 0% Higher - Here's What Happened

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 0% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $51.13 and last traded at $50.87. 1,203,824 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 6,000,031 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.85.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $86.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.91.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. Altria Group's revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company's stock worth $3,821,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company's stock worth $2,935,224,000 after purchasing an additional 589,832 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company's stock worth $2,079,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,605 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company's stock worth $562,793,000 after buying an additional 191,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company's stock valued at $295,055,000 after buying an additional 1,299,703 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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