3,306 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Bought by Northwest Investment Counselors LLC

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $144,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 242,442 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,094 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 8.5% during 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 during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in Altria Group by 7.6% in the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 4,762,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,281,000 after buying an additional 337,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 54.1% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,084,000 after buying an additional 1,653,455 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group increased their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO opened at $46.45 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $44.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.72, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $47.19.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.44%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

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.