ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC Acquires 1,429 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 136,413 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,429 shares during the quarter. Altria Group accounts for approximately 1.2% of ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $8,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 58,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,075,000 after purchasing an additional 1,244 shares during the last quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 38,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,006,000 after purchasing an additional 4,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 4,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.2%

Altria Group stock opened at $59.25 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $43.83 and a 1 year high of $61.26. The company has a market cap of $99.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.05, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $58.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.02.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.89%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target 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. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.00.

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.