Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,774 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew 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 valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 28,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after buying an additional 5,490 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $226,000. Finally, Rockline Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Rockline Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MO. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup raised their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $60.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $101.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.83 and a fifty-two week high of $61.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.95.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 company 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 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 6.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

Altria Group Company 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.