Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Position Lowered by Avior Wealth Management LLC

Avior Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 31.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,803 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,569 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $588,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after buying an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,193,687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134,748 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,164,681,000 after purchasing an additional 76,004 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $617,124,000 after purchasing an additional 983,328 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $59.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $100.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.17. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.17 and a fifty-two week high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.85%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.