DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Purchases 6,249 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 395,085 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,249 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale's holdings in Altria Group were worth $23,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,193,687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134,748 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,164,681,000 after acquiring an additional 76,004 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company's stock valued at $617,124,000 after acquiring an additional 983,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company's stock valued at $466,811,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323,421 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock traded down $0.93 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $57.62. The company had a trading volume of 4,841,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,642,812. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.58. The company has a market capitalization of $97.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.67, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.60 and a 52 week high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.44% and a net margin of 43.09%. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued 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 7.08%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays increased 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. Needham & Company LLC raised Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.75.

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.