Kowal Investment Group LLC Has $1.32 Million Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Kowal Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 13.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,349 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,621 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 154.4% during the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group increased their price target 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, Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:MO traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $45.78. 3,876,929 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,197,176. The firm has a market cap of $78.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.75. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week 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. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.56%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.