Financial Sense Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Financial Sense Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 34.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,182 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 31,558 shares during the quarter. Altria Group comprises 2.1% of Financial Sense Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Financial Sense Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $7,393,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% during 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 during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% during 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 during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% during 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 during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 9.1% during 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 during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 17.4% during 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock traded down $0.20 on Thursday, hitting $59.57. The stock had a trading volume of 4,309,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,194,861. The company's 50 day moving average price is $59.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.95. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.57 and a 1 year high of $61.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.44% and a net margin of 43.09%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.75.

Altria Group Company 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.