Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Acquires 12,768 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 930,853 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,768 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned about 0.06% of Altria Group worth $55,870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MO. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC raised Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $58.77 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.10. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $43.92 and a 1 year high of $61.26. The company has a market capitalization of $99.00 billion, a PE ratio of 8.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. Altria Group's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.94%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

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.

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