Means Investment CO. Inc. Has $1.63 Million Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Means Investment CO. Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,153 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,348 shares during the quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $59.41 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $100.07 billion, a PE ratio of 9.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.16. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.53 and a fifty-two week high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. Research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.