Plan Group Financial LLC Buys 8,502 Shares of 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 grew its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 36.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,938 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 8,502 shares during the quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company's stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 6,954 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Altria Group by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 263,131 shares of the company's stock worth $13,759,000 after purchasing an additional 36,167 shares in the last quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,840 shares of the company's stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,601,425 shares of the company's stock worth $188,319,000 after purchasing an additional 264,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Altria Group by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 696,210 shares of the company's stock worth $36,403,000 after purchasing an additional 194,630 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock traded up $0.66 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $64.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,433,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,586,698. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $48.86 and a one year high of $64.35. The company has a market capitalization of $107.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.59. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $59.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.78.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $59.13.

Altria Group 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.