Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 1,275,024 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 28.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,212,983 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,275,024 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.19% of Altria Group worth $192,843,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,193,687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134,748 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,164,681,000 after acquiring an additional 76,004 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $859,257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company's stock valued at $617,124,000 after acquiring an additional 983,328 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company's stock valued at $466,811,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323,421 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock traded down $0.10 on Friday, reaching $57.88. The stock had a trading volume of 2,026,382 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,652,493. The stock has a market cap of $97.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $47.57 and a fifty-two week high of $61.26. The business's 50-day moving average price is $59.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.77.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.05%. Altria Group's payout ratio is 68.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.