Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Has $2.77 Million Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 63,488 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,431 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,769,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,701,000 after purchasing an additional 242,442 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew 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 valued at $373,526,000 after buying an additional 1,343,094 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,174,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,278,000 after buying an additional 722,258 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 54.1% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,084,000 after buying an additional 1,653,455 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $45.56. 12,238,262 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,256,206. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $45.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.74. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $47.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted 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 negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 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 Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

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.