Baugh & Associates LLC Raises Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Baugh & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 15.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,089 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,539 shares during the period. Altria Group accounts for about 3.0% of Baugh & Associates LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Baugh & Associates LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MO. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 6,954 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 32,727 shares of the company's stock worth $1,711,000 after buying an additional 2,823 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $421,000. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 11,167 shares of the company's stock worth $595,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the period. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $3,849,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MO. UBS Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. 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 note on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:MO traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $58.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,840,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,530,029. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $59.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.26. The stock has a market cap of $98.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.80, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.17 and a 12-month 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, beating 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 firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.97%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.34%.

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.