Altria Group (NYSE:MO) Trading Up 0.7% After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)’s stock price traded up 0.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $59.66 and last traded at $59.20. 3,384,776 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 9,561,434 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.77.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.90%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.57.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Altria Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,193,687,000 after buying an additional 1,134,748 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Altria Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,164,681,000 after buying an additional 76,004 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Altria Group by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $859,257,000 after buying an additional 1,444,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Altria Group by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,124,000 after buying an additional 983,328 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $99.94 billion, a PE ratio of 9.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s 50 day moving average is $57.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.72.

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.