Norden Group LLC Buys Shares of 200,512 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 200,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,746,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 154.4% during the 1st quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $45.93 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.61, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $47.19. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.81.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company 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 firm’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.