Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Acquired by Verity & Verity LLC

Verity & Verity LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 2.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 307,255 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,533 shares during the quarter. Altria Group accounts for about 1.6% of Verity & Verity LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Verity & Verity LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $18,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RMR Wealth Builders purchased a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $223,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 88.5% during the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the company's stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 4,007 shares during the period. BTS Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter valued at $341,000. Rockland Trust Co. purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter worth about $271,000. Finally, Bellecapital International Ltd. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 7.9% in the first quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. now owns 65,342 shares of the company's stock worth $3,922,000 after acquiring an additional 4,764 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $59.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,168,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,637,053. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $58.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $43.92 and a 1 year high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.83%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MO. Citigroup increased their price objective 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. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.00.

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.