Trace Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $310,000 in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Trace Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 5,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $310,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MO. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $91,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Altria Group by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $466,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323,421 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO opened at $58.87 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $43.83 and a 12 month high of $61.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $58.02 and a 200-day moving average of $55.50. The company has a market cap of $99.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 6.93%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.