Royal Fund Management LLC Has $211,000 Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Royal Fund Management LLC lowered its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 11.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,833 shares of the company’s stock after selling 631 shares during the quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Altria Group by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,701,000 after buying an additional 242,442 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343,094 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 8.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,174,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,278,000 after purchasing an additional 722,258 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 7.6% during the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 4,762,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,281,000 after purchasing an additional 337,548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 54.1% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,653,455 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Altria Group stock traded up $0.40 during trading on Monday, reaching $46.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,032,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,226,941. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $44.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $47.19.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.50%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.