Principal Securities Inc. Purchases New Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 60,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,426,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,981 shares of the company's stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,797 shares of the company's stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,326 shares of the company's stock worth $578,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 58,143 shares of the company's stock worth $2,445,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,738 shares of the company's stock worth $204,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $44.90. The stock had a trading volume of 12,159,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,854,246. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.12 billion, a PE ratio of 9.39, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $46.34. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $42.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.54.

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

Altria Group declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.73%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

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.

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