Skyline Advisors Inc. Has $555,000 Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Skyline Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,255 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Skyline Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $555,000 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 the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE MO opened at $58.58 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $43.83 and a 52 week high of $61.26. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $58.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.05. The company has a market cap of $98.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.94, 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 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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share 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 paid 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 payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MO. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

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.