Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading 1.8% Higher on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s share price was up 1.8% during trading on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $59.33 and last traded at $59.22. Approximately 4,122,039 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 8,756,555 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.19.

The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 159,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,544,000 after purchasing an additional 7,228 shares in the last quarter. Callan Capital LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 8.2% in the first quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 12,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $773,000 after buying an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 7.7% during the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 6,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK raised its stake in Altria Group by 2.8% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 18,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after buying an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,885,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,234,000 after buying an additional 284,520 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.9 %

The company has a market cap of $99.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $57.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.69.

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.