Fifth Third Bancorp Acquires 5,764 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 7.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 78,321 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,764 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 6,969.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,401 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,813 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $91,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.3%

Altria Group stock traded down $0.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $59.74. The company had a trading volume of 10,168,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,637,053. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $43.92 and a 52 week high of $61.26. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $58.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced 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 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.83%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.00.

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.