Fiduciary Alliance LLC Purchases 3,594 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 69.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,759 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,594 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MO. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $3,127,218,000 after buying an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 6,969.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,787,000 after buying an additional 2,131,813 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $91,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MO. Citigroup upped their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays upped their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock opened at $60.40 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.95. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.83 and a fifty-two week high of $61.26. The company has a market cap of $101.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.34%.

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.