Plan Group Financial LLC Grows Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Points

• Plan Group Financial LLC increased its ownership in Altria Group, Inc. by 36.3%, acquiring an additional 8,502 shares to reach a total of 31,938 shares, valued at $1,917,000 as of the latest quarter.
• Altria Group's stock price opened at $61.91 and has seen a yearly range between $48.86 and $62.65, with a market capitalization of $104 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.02 per share, yielding 6.6%, with a payout ratio of 78.92%.

Plan Group Financial LLC raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 36.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,938 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,502 shares during the quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 88.5% in the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the company's stock valued at $512,000 after acquiring an additional 4,007 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 64.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $926,000 after acquiring an additional 6,954 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 17.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 36,028 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 5,440 shares during the period. Patron Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 12.2% in the first quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 12,217 shares of the company's stock valued at $733,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares during the period. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,091,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:MO traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $63.55. The company had a trading volume of 4,907,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,047,638. The company has a 50-day moving average of $59.64 and a 200 day moving average of $57.70. The company has a market cap of $106.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.86 and a 1 year high of $63.76.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 prior year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 78.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MO. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Altria Group from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $59.13.

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.