Ewa LLC Trims Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Ewa LLC decreased its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,834 shares of the company’s stock after selling 371 shares during the period. Ewa LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $290,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 1,134,748 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 76,004 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.1% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO opened at $59.60 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $59.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.17. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $45.17 and a one year high of $61.26. The stock has a market cap of $100.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

About Altria Group

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.