Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stock Position Lowered by Balboa Wealth Partners

Balboa Wealth Partners decreased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,259 shares of the company’s stock after selling 324 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners’ holdings in Altria Group were worth $256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MO. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 6,969.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,787,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,813 shares in the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth $91,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $59.96 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $45.17 and a one year high of $61.26. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $59.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.00 billion, a PE ratio of 10.04, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.61.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup boosted their price target 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, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.