Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) is CFC Planning Co LLC's 10th Largest Position

CFC Planning Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 14.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,070 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 5,831 shares during the quarter. Altria Group comprises about 3.0% of CFC Planning Co LLC's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. CFC Planning Co LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MO. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,193,687,000 after buying an additional 1,134,748 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Altria Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,164,681,000 after buying an additional 76,004 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Altria Group by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $859,257,000 after buying an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Altria Group by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company's stock valued at $617,124,000 after buying an additional 983,328 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Altria Group by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company's stock valued at $466,811,000 after buying an additional 1,323,421 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MO. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.75.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of MO opened at $58.54 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.60 and a 12-month high of $61.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.61 billion, a PE ratio of 9.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.59. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $59.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.58.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.44% and a net margin of 43.09%. The business 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 company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.97%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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