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

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 7.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company's stock worth $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company's stock worth $1,164,681,000 after purchasing an additional 76,004 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock worth $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company's stock worth $617,124,000 after purchasing an additional 983,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company's stock worth $466,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323,421 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group raised Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.75.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $58.15. The stock had a trading volume of 5,909,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,229,621. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.55. The stock has a market cap of $97.94 billion, a PE ratio of 9.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.44% and a net margin of 43.09%. The company's revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.02%. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

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.