First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO – Free Report) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 4,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.
Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 404,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,248,000 after acquiring an additional 6,324 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.2% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $974,000 after buying an additional 929 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.4% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,711,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,690,000 after buying an additional 89,334 shares during the period. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $498,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.38% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
MO has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Altria Group from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.50.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Altria Group
Altria Group Price Performance
Shares of MO stock opened at $43.67 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.37. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $40.35 and a one year high of $51.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.50 billion, a PE ratio of 11.46, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.59.
Altria Group (NYSE:MO – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.31. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 225.61% and a net margin of 27.40%. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.
Altria Group Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 10th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.98%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.69%.
Altria Group Profile
Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company provides cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; cigars and pipe tobacco principally under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco products and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; and on! oral nicotine pouches.
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