HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Has $4.18 Million Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 71,043 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,212 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,175,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after buying an additional 6,954 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $83,000. Virtu Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 41,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plancorp LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 7,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $58.32 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $59.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.87. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.57 and a 52-week high of $61.26. The company has a market cap of $98.23 billion, a PE ratio of 9.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup increased their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.75.

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.