Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Down 0.5% - Here's What Happened

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) shares traded down 0.5% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $49.24 and last traded at $49.35. 844,112 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 9,916,150 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.61.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $48.20.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $84.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.88.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. Research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This is a positive change from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.31%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company's stock worth $15,603,000 after buying an additional 40,574 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT raised its position in Altria Group by 49.1% in the first quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Altria Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,960,000 after purchasing an additional 16,541 shares during the period. Regal Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 4.2% in the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,476,000 after purchasing an additional 10,079 shares during the period. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 7.2% in the first quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company's stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the period. 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.