Howard Financial Services LTD. Raises Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 14.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,558 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 970 shares during the quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,218,000 after buying an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,193,687,000 after buying an additional 1,134,748 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Altria Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,164,681,000 after buying an additional 76,004 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Altria Group by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $859,257,000 after buying an additional 1,444,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Altria Group by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $617,124,000 after buying an additional 983,328 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $59.43 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $43.83 and a twelve month high of $61.26. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $58.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.84. The firm has a market cap of $100.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.07, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective 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 raised their price objective on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.00.

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.