Meeder Asset Management Inc. Has $484,000 Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Points

• Meeder Asset Management Inc. significantly increased its holdings in Altria Group, acquiring an additional 7,753 shares and raising its total ownership by 2,525.4% in the first quarter.
• Altria Group's recent quarterly earnings showed a net margin of 43.09% with an earnings per share of $1.23, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.19.
• The company announced a $1.02 quarterly dividend, resulting in a 6.87% yield, and has a payout ratio of 68.34%.

Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 2,525.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,060 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,753 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 13.9% in the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 42,494 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,550,000 after acquiring an additional 5,200 shares during the last quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 13.0% in the first quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 18,218 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 2.4% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 8,834 shares of the company's stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 12,049 shares of the company's stock worth $723,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paradigm Strategies in Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $229,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Performance

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

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors 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 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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 lifted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.