Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Has $2.70 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Points

• Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 30.1% in Q1, now holding 44,956 shares valued at approximately $2.7 million.
• Altria Group reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.44, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.37, with revenues up 0.2% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.02 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 6.64%.

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 30.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,956 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,403 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Altria Group by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $859,257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444,021 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company's stock valued at $617,124,000 after acquiring an additional 983,328 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company's stock worth $466,811,000 after buying an additional 1,323,421 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,569,122 shares of the company's stock worth $343,499,000 after buying an additional 805,558 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,218,299 shares of the company's stock worth $325,155,000 after buying an additional 222,584 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.3%

Altria Group stock traded down $0.17 on Friday, hitting $61.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,687,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,502,353. The firm has a market cap of $104.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $59.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.39. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $48.86 and a one year high of $62.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 6.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 78.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target 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 upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $58.13.

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.