PFG Investments LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

PFG Investments LLC lifted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 312.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,098 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 44,754 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,456,064 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,857,271,000 after acquiring an additional 840,559 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Altria Group by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,609,568 shares of the company's stock valued at $698,432,000 after purchasing an additional 42,490 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company's stock worth $535,701,000 after buying an additional 242,442 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company's stock worth $373,526,000 after buying an additional 1,343,094 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,174,355 shares of the company's stock worth $381,278,000 after buying an additional 722,258 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MO traded down $0.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $43.38. 13,794,252 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,969,122. The stock has a market cap of $74.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.08, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $42.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.45. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MO. UBS Group raised their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.90.

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.

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