Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Acquires 267,483 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Points

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Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 597.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 312,270 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 267,483 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in Altria Group were worth $18,744,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $58.13.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock traded down $0.17 on Friday, hitting $61.77. 9,687,371 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,502,353. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.05 billion, a PE ratio of 11.95, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.86 and a 1 year high of $62.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. Altria Group's quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.6%. Altria Group's payout ratio is presently 78.92%.

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.