Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 36,410 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Points

• Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 7.5%, owning 524,994 shares valued at approximately $31.36 million after purchasing an additional 36,410 shares in Q1.
• Altria Group reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.44, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.37, with revenue of $5.29 billion, a slight increase from the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.02 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 6.2%, with a payout ratio of 78.92%.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 7.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 524,994 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 36,410 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $31,359,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 51.8% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their target price 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.13.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.08 on Thursday, hitting $65.58. 10,747,938 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,581,546. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.86 and a 12 month high of $66.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.59. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $60.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.17.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date 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.