Tradewinds LLC. Has $889,000 Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Tradewinds LLC. raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 49.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,815 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 4,915 shares during the period. Tradewinds LLC.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vista Investment Partners II LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 4.2% during the first quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 4,302 shares of the company's stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 37.8% in the first quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 689 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,581 shares of the company's stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp raised its position in Altria Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 5,052 shares of the company's stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc raised its position in Altria Group by 3.1% in the first quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,499 shares of the company's stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $57.71.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO traded up $0.45 on Friday, hitting $59.62. 4,776,064 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,581,112. The company's 50 day moving average price is $59.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $45.87 and a twelve month high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.44% and a net margin of 43.09%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.84%. Altria Group's payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

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.