Sound Income Strategies LLC Acquires 978 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 29.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,340 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 978 shares during the quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $198,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,945,000. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 12,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $515,000 after buying an additional 909 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,523,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,465,000 after buying an additional 333,656 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 33,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,355,000 after buying an additional 9,552 shares during the period. Finally, Executive Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Executive Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $50.43. The stock had a trading volume of 5,449,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,693,454. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.33. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $51.40. The company has a market capitalization of $86.62 billion, a PE ratio of 10.55, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders 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 7.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.