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

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) fell 0.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $49.66 and last traded at $49.78. 905,348 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 9,873,825 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.06.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Two 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.20.

Altria Group Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $84.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $51.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.97.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.20%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 70.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MO. CWM LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 15.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,603,000 after purchasing an additional 40,574 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT increased its stake in Altria Group by 49.1% in the 1st quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 911 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,960,000 after buying an additional 16,541 shares during the period. Regal Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,476,000 after buying an additional 10,079 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,330,000 after buying an additional 32,318 shares during the period. 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.