Aspen Investment Management Inc boosted its stake in Altria Group (NYSE:MO) by 1.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,891 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Aspen Investment Management Inc’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $352,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 25.4% in the first quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 4,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 920 shares during the period. LGL Partners LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. LGL Partners LLC now owns 4,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 2.5% in the first quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,691,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,797,000 after buying an additional 40,895 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Trust Bank increased its position in Altria Group by 495.6% in the first quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 105,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,548,000 after buying an additional 87,937 shares during the period. 61.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Altria Group (NYSE MO) opened at 73.96 on Friday. Altria Group has a 12 month low of $60.82 and a 12 month high of $77.79. The company has a market cap of $143.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $74.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.00.
Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.01. Altria Group had a return on equity of 76.43% and a net margin of 55.99%. The business had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Altria Group will post $3.28 earnings per share for the current year.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 13th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 33.02%.
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Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. BidaskClub downgraded Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Group LLC restated a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 target price (down previously from $71.00) on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Zacks Investment Research downgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 11th. Cowen and Company restated a “hold” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 11th. Finally, Vetr downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $80.38 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, June 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.34.
In other Altria Group news, Director Dinyar S. Devitre sold 4,285 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.72, for a total transaction of $303,035.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 112,457 shares in the company, valued at $7,952,959.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director George Munoz sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.35, for a total value of $361,750.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Altria Group Company Profile
Altria Group, Inc is a holding company. The Company’s segments include smokeable products, smokeless products and wine. The Company’s subsidiaries include Philip Morris USA Inc (PM USA), which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States; John Middleton Co (Middleton), which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of machine-made cigars and pipe tobacco, and UST LLC (UST), which, through its subsidiaries, including U.S.
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