Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 5.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 687,431 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 34,060 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $41,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MO. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,581 shares of the company's stock worth $240,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 5,052 shares of the company's stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,499 shares of the company's stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Skyline Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Skyline Advisors Inc. now owns 9,255 shares of the company's stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Group LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 13,778 shares of the company's stock valued at $720,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barclays upped 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 upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO opened at $59.60 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.17. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.17 and a 52-week high of $61.26. The stock has a market cap of $100.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.98, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.34%.

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.

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