Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Foundations Investment Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Foundations Investment Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Altria Group by 5.6% in the first quarter, now holding 244,015 shares valued at approximately $14.6 million.
• Multiple brokerages have increased target prices for Altria Group, with Barclays raising it to $49 and Stifel Nicolaus to $63, while the company overall has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.75.
• Altria Group reported earnings of $1.23 per share for the last quarter, beating expectations, despite a 4.2% decline in revenue year-over-year, totaling $4.52 billion.

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 5.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 244,015 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,595 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $14,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Altria Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company's stock worth $1,164,681,000 after buying an additional 76,004 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Altria Group by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $859,257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444,021 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company's stock worth $617,124,000 after purchasing an additional 983,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Altria Group by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company's stock worth $466,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323,421 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of Altria Group stock traded up $0.29 on Thursday, hitting $61.79. 5,194,294 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,249,310. The stock has a market cap of $104.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.35, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.57 and a 52-week high of $62.32. The firm's 50-day moving average is $59.29 and its 200 day moving average is $57.24.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.44% and a net margin of 43.09%. The business's revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.60%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $58.13.

About Altria Group

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.