18,425 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Bought by Koss Olinger Consulting LLC

Key Points

• Koss Olinger Consulting LLC acquired 18,425 shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO), valued at approximately $1,106,000, during the first quarter of the year.
• Altria Group reported $1.44 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, and had revenues of $5.29 billion.
• The company's recently announced quarterly dividend is $1.02 per share, yielding about 6.4%, with a payout ratio of 78.92%.

Koss Olinger Consulting LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 18,425 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,106,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 226.3% in the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MO shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Altria Group from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.13.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE MO traded up $0.33 on Tuesday, reaching $66.00. 8,847,619 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,179,186. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $59.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.97. The company has a market cap of $110.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.86 and a 12 month high of $66.29.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.92%.

Altria Group Company Profile

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.