San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 22.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,715 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,722 shares during the quarter. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $58.77 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $43.92 and a 1 year high of $61.26. The company’s 50-day moving average is $58.81 and its 200 day moving average is $56.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.97, 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 (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.34%.

Altria Group Company 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.