Vident Advisory LLC Has $9.71 Million Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 185,625 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,044 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $9,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $59.44 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $58.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.55. The company has a market cap of $100.12 billion, a PE ratio of 9.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $43.83 and a twelve month high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

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.