Aviance Capital Partners LLC Grows Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,896 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,386 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 22.0% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 563,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,712,000 after acquiring an additional 101,670 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 54.1% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,653,455 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.6% during the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 4,762,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,281,000 after purchasing an additional 337,548 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 293.6% during the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 41,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AXQ Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter valued at $1,480,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.5 %

MO traded up $0.69 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $46.24. The company had a trading volume of 1,028,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,174,387. The business has a 50-day moving average of $45.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.75. The company has a market cap of $79.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $47.19.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.18 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

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.