Tectonic Advisors LLC Grows Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Tectonic Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 174,467 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,110 shares during the quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $10,472,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 88.5% during the 1st quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the company's stock worth $512,000 after acquiring an additional 4,007 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 36,028 shares of the company's stock worth $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 5,440 shares during the last quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 115.5% during the 4th quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC now owns 13,115 shares of the company's stock worth $686,000 after acquiring an additional 7,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patron Partners LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 12,217 shares of the company's stock worth $733,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.5%

MO traded down $0.90 during trading on Thursday, hitting $57.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,494,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,683,694. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $47.57 and a twelve month high of $61.26. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $59.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.71, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 negative return on equity of 295.44% and a net margin of 43.09%. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.04%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group raised Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.75.

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.