Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Stock Price Down 0.6% – Time to Sell?

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s share price fell 0.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $53.80 and last traded at $53.97. 1,113,901 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 9,833,637 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on MO shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.4 %

The company has a market cap of $90.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.06, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $51.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.70.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current 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 issued 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.62%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 63.9% in the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 85.1% during the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.