Patron Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Patron Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 12.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,217 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the period. Patron Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 4.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Altria Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,164,681,000 after purchasing an additional 76,004 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Altria Group by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 983,328 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of MO opened at $58.81 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $99.07 billion, a PE ratio of 9.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.27 and a 52-week high of $61.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.28.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group 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.