Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 28.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 102,979 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 22,782 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MO. Csenge Advisory Group increased its position in Altria Group by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 54,684 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,859,000 after acquiring an additional 12,320 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,418,074 shares of the company's stock valued at $126,441,000 after acquiring an additional 523,146 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,414,856 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,563,000 after buying an additional 39,341 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 40.2% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 70,826 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,703,000 after buying an additional 20,309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Merchants Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 56.1% in the 4th quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 27,983 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,463,000 after buying an additional 10,058 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:MO traded up $0.05 on Thursday, reaching $59.36. 9,054,176 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,639,142. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a fifty day moving average of $58.46 and a 200-day moving average of $55.97. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $43.83 and a 52-week high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.00.

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.