Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stock Position Decreased by Beacon Financial Group

Beacon Financial Group lowered its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 6.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,603 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,424 shares during the quarter. Beacon Financial Group's holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,198,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $59.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,856,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,636,988. The firm's 50 day moving average is $58.45 and its 200 day moving average is $56.02. The company has a market cap of $99.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $43.83 and a 52-week high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays upped their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup upped their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.00.

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.