Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Purchases 12,396 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,427,252 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,396 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.20% of Altria Group worth $205,704,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% during the 4th 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 during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 48,515 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,537,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 6,819.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 296,495 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,504,000 after purchasing an additional 292,210 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in Altria Group by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 12,637 shares of the company's stock worth $661,000 after buying an additional 2,864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $2,220,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO traded up $0.94 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $59.08. The stock had a trading volume of 9,144,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,557,091. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.73 and a 1 year high of $61.26. The business has a fifty day moving average of $59.22 and a 200 day moving average of $56.34. The company has a market cap of $99.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released 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. The company 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. On average, equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.91%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup boosted 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $57.71.

Altria Group 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.