Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 7.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,885,945 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 284,520 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.23% of Altria Group worth $233,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MO. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 88.5% during the 1st quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the company's stock worth $512,000 after acquiring an additional 4,007 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock worth $926,000 after acquiring an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 36,028 shares of the company's stock worth $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 5,440 shares during the last quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 115.5% during the 4th quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC now owns 13,115 shares of the company's stock worth $686,000 after acquiring an additional 7,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patron Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 12,217 shares of the company's stock worth $733,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:MO traded down $0.76 on Friday, reaching $57.79. The company had a trading volume of 9,387,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,299,206. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.11 and a 52-week high of $61.26. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $59.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.34 billion, a PE ratio of 9.68, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.59.

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, 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 firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.06%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MO. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group raised 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 report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.75.

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.