Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Raises Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. increased its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MOFree Report) by 78.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,335 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,852 shares during the quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,193,687,000 after buying an additional 1,134,748 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Altria Group by 0.3% in the 4th 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 boosted its holdings in 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 period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 9.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of MO stock opened at $58.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.82, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.24 and a 200 day moving average of $56.33. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $45.73 and a 52 week high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MOGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 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 in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research 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 issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.00.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on MO

Altria Group Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MOFree Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Altria Group (NYSE:MO)

Receive News & Ratings for Altria Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Altria Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.