Aspetuck Financial Management LLC Acquires Shares of 10,850 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Aspetuck Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 10,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $651,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 37.8% during the 1st quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 689 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 5,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.1% during the first quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Skyline Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Skyline Advisors Inc. now owns 9,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $555,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Needham & Company LLC raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.5%

MO stock opened at $59.01 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $99.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.88, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.24. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.17 and a fifty-two week high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.91%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

Altria Group 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.