HF Advisory Group LLC Has $1.82 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

HF Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 30,333 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,847 shares during the quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Csenge Advisory Group raised its position in Altria Group by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 54,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,859,000 after purchasing an additional 12,320 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Altria Group by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,418,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,441,000 after purchasing an additional 523,146 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,414,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,563,000 after buying an additional 39,341 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 70,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,703,000 after buying an additional 20,309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Merchants Corp increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 56.1% during the fourth quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 27,983 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,463,000 after buying an additional 10,058 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MO. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $59.31 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $43.83 and a one year high of $61.26. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.88%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Altria Group 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.