Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Foundations Investment Advisors LLC

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 244,015 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,595 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $14,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vista Investment Partners II LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 9,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 37.8% during the 1st quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 689 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 8,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $526,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. Barclays upped 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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. Citigroup upped 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.75.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock opened at $59.82 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $59.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.14. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.57 and a 12 month high of $61.26. The company has a market cap of $100.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.82%. Altria Group’s payout ratio 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.