Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Bought by Denali Advisors LLC

Denali Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 67.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 123,239 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 49,629 shares during the period. Altria Group comprises approximately 0.8% of Denali Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Denali Advisors LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $7,397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 226.3% in the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MO. UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price 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 target on Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup raised their price target 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 downgraded Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.75.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Altria Group stock traded up $0.06 on Friday, reaching $58.04. 5,686,380 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,685,507. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $47.57 and a twelve month high of $61.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.72, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $59.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.84.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

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

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.