Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Trims Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lowered its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 166,975 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,678 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $10,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 6,969.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,401 shares of the company's stock worth $129,787,000 after buying an additional 2,131,813 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $91,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock worth $859,257,000 after buying an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company's stock worth $466,811,000 after buying an additional 1,323,421 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 86.0% in the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 2,675,347 shares of the company's stock worth $139,894,000 after buying an additional 1,236,782 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $58.04. 5,686,380 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,685,507. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $59.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.84. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.57 and a 1 year high of $61.26. The stock has a market cap of $97.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.03%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is 68.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup raised 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 raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.75.

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.