Sivia Capital Partners LLC Acquires New Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 5,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 154.4% during the first quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 67.6% during the fourth 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 purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of MO traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $45.83. The company had a trading volume of 1,547,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,101,189. The firm has a market cap of $78.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $45.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.81. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $47.19.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. 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 8.55%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Insider Activity at Altria Group

In related 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.