Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. Buys 9,621 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 280,115 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,621 shares during the quarter. Altria Group makes up approximately 1.8% of Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.'s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $16,813,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $926,000 after acquiring an additional 6,954 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,670 shares of the company's stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 45,652 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,387,000 after purchasing an additional 5,325 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 29,610 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,548,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $2,523,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, April 30th. 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.75.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock traded up $0.06 on Friday, reaching $58.04. 5,686,380 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,666,358. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.57 and a 12 month high of $61.26. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $59.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.77 billion, a PE ratio of 9.72, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.03%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.