Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Up 0.1% - Here's What Happened

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 0.1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $53.85 and last traded at $53.67. 861,111 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 7,146,717 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.62.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Altria Group Price Performance

The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $52.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.61. The company has a market capitalization of $90.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share 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 expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after buying an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company's stock worth $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company's stock worth $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Altria Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company's stock worth $1,164,681,000 after purchasing an additional 76,004 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Altria Group by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock worth $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

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.