Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by Trust Co. of Vermont

Trust Co. of Vermont raised its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,091 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Albion Financial Group UT increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 49.1% in the first quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,617,000 after acquiring an additional 5,418 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,027,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,960,000 after acquiring an additional 16,541 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 57,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,304,000 after acquiring an additional 11,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% in the first quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MO. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of 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 raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $49.48. The stock had a trading volume of 8,006,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,751,213. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $51.40. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.99 billion, a PE ratio of 10.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.92%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.