Retirement Guys Formula LLC Has $772,000 Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Retirement Guys Formula LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 36.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,708 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,706 shares during the period. Retirement Guys Formula LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Altria Group by 4,665.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,972,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,241,000 after acquiring an additional 3,888,907 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343,094 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $525,810,000. United Services Automobile Association lifted its position in Altria Group by 103.9% in the 4th quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 1,803,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,742,000 after acquiring an additional 919,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 24.4% in 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.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO traded down $0.10 on Thursday, hitting $45.95. The stock had a trading volume of 3,663,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,576,390. The stock has a market cap of $78.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $47.19. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.83.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.53%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the firm’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 sale, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.