Griffith & Werner Inc. Has $345,000 Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Griffith & Werner Inc. decreased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,755 shares of the company’s stock after selling 478 shares during the quarter. Griffith & Werner Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $3,127,218,000 after buying an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $2,193,687,000 after buying an additional 1,134,748 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position 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 valued at $1,164,681,000 after buying an additional 76,004 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Altria Group by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $859,257,000 after buying an additional 1,444,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Altria Group by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,124,000 after buying an additional 983,328 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:MO opened at $59.25 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $43.83 and a 12-month high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.89%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on MO shares. Citigroup increased 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. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average 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.