MV Capital Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,549 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the quarter. MV Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 22.0% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 563,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,712,000 after acquiring an additional 101,670 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 293.6% in the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after buying an additional 41,432 shares in the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,480,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 8.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,174,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,278,000 after buying an additional 722,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.8% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 579,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,383,000 after buying an additional 26,469 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.02 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $46.05. The stock had a trading volume of 5,458,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,176,974. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $45.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.78. The stock has a market cap of $79.10 billion, a PE ratio of 9.60, a PEG 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted 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. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.