Calton & Associates Inc. Purchases 671 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Calton & Associates Inc. increased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 13.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,650 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 671 shares during the quarter. Calton & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $246,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4,665.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,972,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,241,000 after acquiring an additional 3,888,907 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 54.1% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,653,455 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343,094 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at $525,810,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 103.9% during the fourth quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 1,803,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,742,000 after acquiring an additional 919,058 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of MO stock opened at $45.56 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $45.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.74. The firm has a market cap of $78.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $47.19.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.60%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

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.