Mackenzie Financial Corp Grows Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Altria Group by 10.4% in Q1, acquiring an additional 207,934 shares to hold a total of 2,213,427 shares valued at approximately $132.85 million.
• Altria recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.02 per share, providing an annualized yield of 6.87% and showcasing a payout ratio of 68.34%.
• The company's latest earnings report revealed a net margin of 43.09% and a quarterly revenue of $4.52 billion, which was below analyst expectations.

Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 10.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,213,427 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 207,934 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned about 0.13% of Altria Group worth $132,850,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 226.3% during the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $58.13.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO traded down $0.00 during trading on Friday, hitting $61.94. The stock had a trading volume of 4,410,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,253,704. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $48.86 and a one year high of $62.65. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.31.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.34%.

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.