Requisite Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 3,537 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Requisite Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 6,969.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,787,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,813 shares in the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $91,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $59.05 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $43.83 and a 52 week high of $61.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $58.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. 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 6.91%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on MO. Wall Street Zen lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.00.

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.