TCW Group Inc. Purchases 1,349 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

TCW Group Inc. increased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,809 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,349 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 88.5% in the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 4,007 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after acquiring an additional 6,954 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 36,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 5,440 shares in the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 12.2% during the first quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 12,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $733,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,091,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.75.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $58.73 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.57 and a 52 week high of $61.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $59.26 and its 200 day moving average is $57.19. The company has a market cap of $98.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.84, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.