HB Wealth Management LLC Has $6.33 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Points

• HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group, Inc. by 22.1% in Q1, now owning 105,447 shares worth approximately $6.33 million.
• Altria Group recently reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding expectations, although its revenue declined by 4.2% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.02 per share, yielding 6.82%, with a payout ratio of 68.34%.

HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 22.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 105,447 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 19,054 shares during the quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vista Investment Partners II LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the company's stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 1.9% in the first quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 9,452 shares of the company's stock valued at $567,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 37.8% in the 1st quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 689 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 8,625 shares of the company's stock valued at $526,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Finally, Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,499 shares of the company's stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE MO traded up $1.25 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $60.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,862,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,216,200. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $47.57 and a fifty-two week high of $62.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.21.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued 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 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The company's revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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 note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target 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 raised Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.75.

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.