NBC Securities Inc. Increases Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

NBC Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 119,328.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,720 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,706 shares during the quarter. NBC Securities Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MO. UBS Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of MO stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Thursday, hitting $59.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,054,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,639,142. The company has a market cap of $99.98 billion, a PE ratio of 9.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a fifty day moving average of $58.46 and a 200-day moving average of $55.97. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $43.83 and a 52 week high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued 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 6.87%. 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.