Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC Raises Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,241 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 829 shares during the period. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $855,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. 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, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.8%

Altria Group stock opened at $58.58 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.05. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $43.83 and a 12 month high of $61.26. The firm has a market cap of $98.68 billion, a PE ratio of 8.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. The business’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.96%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

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.