Trilogy Capital Inc. Makes New Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Points

• Trilogy Capital Inc. has acquired a new position in Altria Group, purchasing 7,488 shares valued at approximately $449,000 in the first quarter.
• Analysts have mixed views on Altria Group, with Stifel Nicolaus raising its price target to $63.00 while Wall Street Zen downgraded it to "hold." The stock currently has a consensus target price of $56.75.
• Altria Group recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.02 per share, yielding 6.82%, and the company reported earnings of $1.23 per share, slightly exceeding analyst expectations.

Trilogy Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 7,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $449,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 226.3% during the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 51.8% during the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $1.08 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $60.44. 11,346,106 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,213,765. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $47.57 and a 1-year high of $62.21. The company has a market capitalization of $101.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.59. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $59.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.21.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.44% and a net margin of 43.09%. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is 68.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Altria Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.75.

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.