Truist Financial Corp Acquires 405,235 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 16.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,823,309 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 405,235 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned about 0.17% of Altria Group worth $169,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MO. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised shares of 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 report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $57.71.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Altria Group stock traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $59.62. The company had a trading volume of 4,776,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,581,112. The company has a market capitalization of $100.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.45. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.87 and a 1-year high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

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

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.