Motiv8 Investments LLC Acquires New Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MO. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $3,127,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 6,969.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,787,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,813 shares in the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $91,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Altria Group by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $859,257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $59.01 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $59.19 and its 200 day moving average is $56.24. The stock has a market cap of $99.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.17 and a 1-year high of $61.26.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.91%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 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.