Exeter Financial LLC Raises Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Exeter Financial LLC boosted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 35.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 20,419 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,295 shares during the period. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $848,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,128,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 293.6% in the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 41,432 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Altria Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of Altria Group 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 sale, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Altria Group Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MO traded down $0.99 on Thursday, reaching $45.37. The company had a trading volume of 3,467,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,206,229. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $45.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.69. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $47.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 company 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 posted $1.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.