Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Grows Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 222,995 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,114 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $13,384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MO. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter worth $31,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.2%

MO stock opened at $59.60 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.17 and a 1-year high of $61.26. The business’s 50 day moving average is $59.04 and its 200-day moving average is $56.17. The firm has a market cap of $100.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.61.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released 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. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.44% and a net margin of 43.09%. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors 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 yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MO. Wall Street Zen lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price 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. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.