First Trust Advisors LP Boosts Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,218,299 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 222,584 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.37% of Altria Group worth $325,155,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 2.8% in the fourth 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 grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 76,004 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.1% during the fourth 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. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,488,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,678,000 after purchasing an additional 93,121 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $58.13 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $56.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.25. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.39 and a 52-week high of $60.18. The company has a market cap of $98.27 billion, a PE ratio of 8.87, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.02%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.00.

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.