Ritholtz Wealth Management Acquires 8,096 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 165,110 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,096 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $9,910,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 20.9% during the first quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331 shares during the period. Tcfg Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 11.7% during the first quarter. Tcfg Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013 shares during the period. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 14.2% during the first quarter. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares during the period. Dover Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 38.3% during the first quarter. Dover Advisors LLC now owns 13,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 3,690 shares during the period. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 6.5% during the first quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 5,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $59.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $100.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.10. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.92 and a fifty-two week high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.83%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

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.