Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by PFG Investments LLC

PFG Investments LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,694 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,187 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,883,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 valued at $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 6,969.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,813 shares in the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $91,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Altria Group by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $59.60 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $45.17 and a one year high of $61.26. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.98, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. 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 company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.85%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup raised 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Two research 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 stock currently has an average 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.