Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Acquired by United Bank

United Bank lifted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 168.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,994 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 7,527 shares during the period. United Bank's holdings in Altria Group were worth $720,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MO. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company's stock worth $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company's stock worth $1,164,681,000 after purchasing an additional 76,004 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock worth $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position 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 boosted its position 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on MO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. Finally, UBS Group raised 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 research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.75.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock traded up $0.27 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $59.19. 3,247,228 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,658,632. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $59.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.87. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.57 and a 12-month high of $61.26. The stock has a market cap of $99.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.89%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

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