Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Up 1.5% – Here’s What Happened

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price shot up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $58.52 and last traded at $58.13. 8,765,015 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 3% from the average session volume of 8,998,560 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, 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 research report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $56.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.20. The stock has a market cap of $98.27 billion, a PE ratio of 8.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.02%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 6,969.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,787,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,813 shares in the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $91,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Altria Group by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares in the last quarter. 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.