Beacon Financial Group Trims Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Beacon Financial Group lessened its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 86,603 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,424 shares during the quarter. Beacon Financial Group’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,198,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $757,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163 shares during the period. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 22,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Benin Management CORP acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth $225,000. Iams Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth $209,000. Finally, SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth $213,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $59.31 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $43.83 and a 12-month high of $61.26. The company has a market cap of $99.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $58.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.97.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders 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 yield of 6.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently 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.