LGT Group Foundation Acquires New Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

LGT Group Foundation acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 120.6% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,201,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789,788 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $525,810,000. United Services Automobile Association boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 103.9% in the fourth quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 1,803,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,742,000 after acquiring an additional 919,058 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,674,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,567,000 after acquiring an additional 915,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 131.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,418,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,211,000 after acquiring an additional 805,051 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MO shares. UBS Group raised their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.10.

Insider Activity at Altria Group

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Altria Group stock traded up $0.28 on Friday, reaching $50.08. 2,887,697 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,694,674. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $46.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.43, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $50.47.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The company 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%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

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.