Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by World Equity Group Inc.

World Equity Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,633 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 995 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $810,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after buying an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,164,681,000 after purchasing an additional 76,004 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 9.6% during the fourth 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. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,124,000 after purchasing an additional 983,328 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:MO opened at $59.60 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $59.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.18. The company has a market cap of $100.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $45.17 and a twelve month high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.