Intact Investment Management Inc. Acquires 79,400 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 39.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 281,500 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 79,400 shares during the quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $16,896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 4.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 6,969.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,401 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,787,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,813 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $91,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Altria Group by 9.6% in the 4th 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 period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $59.60 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $59.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.98, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $45.17 and a one year high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share 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 net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MO. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.

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