Nicholson Meyer Capital Management Inc. Acquires New Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Nicholson Meyer Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,572 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $274,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth about $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company's stock worth $3,127,218,000 after buying an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 6,969.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,401 shares of the company's stock worth $129,787,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,813 shares in the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $91,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Altria Group by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $859,257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $57.71.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.6%

NYSE MO traded up $0.94 on Wednesday, reaching $59.08. The company had a trading volume of 9,262,748 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,569,864. The company's fifty day moving average is $59.23 and its 200 day moving average is $56.36. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.73 and a 52-week high of $61.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.91%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

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.