Css LLC Il Buys 6,800 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Css LLC Il grew its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 29.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,000 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,800 shares during the period. Css LLC Il's holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,507 shares of the company's stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 826 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $218,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 15,686 shares of the company's stock valued at $820,000 after purchasing an additional 926 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 91,765 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,798,000 after buying an additional 2,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pure Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 115.3% in the 4th quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 35,854 shares of the company's stock worth $1,875,000 after buying an additional 19,202 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $59.85 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $58.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.58. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $43.83 and a twelve month high of $61.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. Altria Group's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MO shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.

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