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

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

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MO. Needham & Company LLC raised Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup increased their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Altria Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $57.71.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Altria Group stock traded up $0.45 on Friday, hitting $59.62. 4,776,064 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,581,112. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $59.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.45. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.87 and a 12-month high of $61.26. The company has a market cap of $100.43 billion, a PE ratio of 9.99, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The business 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 posted $1.15 EPS. Altria Group's revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

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

Altria Group 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.