Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC Purchases 1,741 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 14.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,197 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,741 shares during the quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 4,665.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,972,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,241,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,907 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 54.1% during 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 last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,094 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $525,810,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 103.9% during the 4th quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 1,803,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,742,000 after purchasing an additional 919,058 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Altria Group

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

Altria Group Stock Up 0.2 %

MO stock opened at $45.56 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $78.26 billion, a PE ratio of 9.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.74. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $47.19.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

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.