Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Acquired by Good Life Advisors LLC

Good Life Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 84,725 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $59.74 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $100.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50 day moving average of $58.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.09. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $43.92 and a 52-week high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 6.83%. 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.