Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Bought by Keudell Morrison Wealth Management

Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,539 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,801 shares during the period. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 worth $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised 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 worth $1,164,681,000 after purchasing an additional 76,004 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised 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 worth $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised 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 worth $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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on MO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays increased their target price 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 target price 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price 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. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO opened at $60.52 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.19. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.17 and a 1-year high of $61.26. The stock has a market cap of $101.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.61.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.74%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.34%.

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.