8,459 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Bought by LRI Investments LLC

LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 8,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $381,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 154.4% during the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MO. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.10.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock traded up $0.63 during trading on Friday, hitting $50.43. 6,995,663 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,154,169. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $50.47. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its 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 firm 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 earned $1.18 EPS. The business’s revenue 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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Altria Group

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.