Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Raises Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 13.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 127,641 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 15,071 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $7,661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Csenge Advisory Group grew its stake in Altria Group by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 54,684 shares of the company's stock worth $2,859,000 after acquiring an additional 12,320 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in Altria Group by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,418,074 shares of the company's stock worth $126,441,000 after purchasing an additional 523,146 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,414,856 shares of the company's stock worth $178,563,000 after purchasing an additional 39,341 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its position in Altria Group by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 70,826 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,703,000 after purchasing an additional 20,309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Merchants Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 56.1% in the 4th quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 27,983 shares of the company's stock worth $1,463,000 after buying an additional 10,058 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays upped their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $1.36 on Wednesday, hitting $59.92. 7,396,129 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,632,374. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $58.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.05. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $43.83 and a 1-year high of $61.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. The firm's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.