Juno Financial Group LLC Makes New $457,000 Investment in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Juno Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 7,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $457,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 79.0% during the fourth quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter worth about $39,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Charles N. Whitaker sold 27,908 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total value of $1,885,743.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 180,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,221,318.33. This trade represents a 13.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MO. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Altria Group from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Altria Group from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.88.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.8%

MO stock opened at $65.14 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.70 and a twelve month high of $70.51. The company has a market cap of $108.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $66.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.57.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.02). Altria Group had a net margin of 29.84% and a negative return on equity of 287.61%. The business had revenue of $5.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be given a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.16%.

About Altria Group

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.