Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by Claro Advisors LLC

Claro Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,178 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 442 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $270,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings 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 worth $535,701,000 after acquiring an additional 242,442 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $373,526,000 after buying an additional 1,343,094 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,174,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,278,000 after buying an additional 722,258 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in Altria Group by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,681,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,870,000 after acquiring an additional 617,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,674,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,567,000 after acquiring an additional 915,478 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock opened at $46.03 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $47.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.63, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $45.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.75.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.52%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.