Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Bought by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 395,085 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,718 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $17,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cambridge Trust Co. raised its position in Altria Group by 60.2% in the first quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 13,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,000 after purchasing an additional 4,950 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $81,000. Garde Capital Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 4,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 427,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,630,000 after acquiring an additional 77,227 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Altria Group by 415.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 984,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,935,000 after acquiring an additional 793,327 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO traded up $1.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $51.07. The stock had a trading volume of 12,662,503 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,285,990. The company has a market capitalization of $87.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $47.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.97. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $51.40.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.90.

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.