Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Position Increased by Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC

Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 27.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,692 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,663 shares during the period. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,193,687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134,748 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Altria Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,164,681,000 after acquiring an additional 76,004 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Altria Group by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $859,257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Altria Group by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,124,000 after acquiring an additional 983,328 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $59.41 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.53 and a 1 year high of $61.26. The stock has a market cap of $100.07 billion, a PE ratio of 9.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s fifty day moving average is $58.92 and its 200-day moving average is $56.14.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued 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 negative return on equity of 295.44% and a net margin of 43.09%. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 6.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, 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.