Portside Wealth Group LLC Acquires Shares of 4,523 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Portside Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.9%

MO traded down $0.53 during trading on Thursday, hitting $59.38. 4,055,493 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,620,783. The stock has a market cap of $100.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.07, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.83 and a fifty-two week high of $61.26. The business's 50 day moving average is $58.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.08.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.87%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MO. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.00.

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.