Rodgers Brothers Inc. Has $452,000 Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Rodgers Brothers Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 51.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,360 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares during the quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 9.2% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 37,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,626,000 after acquiring an additional 3,151 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 11.3% in the first quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 84,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,690,000 after acquiring an additional 8,562 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 131.3% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 74,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,267,000 after acquiring an additional 42,506 shares during the last quarter. Delap Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth $266,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 27.2% during the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 775,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,807,000 after purchasing an additional 165,759 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Altria Group

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.3 %

MO traded up $0.63 during trading on Friday, hitting $50.43. The company had a trading volume of 6,967,303 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,724,491. The company has a market capitalization of $86.62 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $50.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $46.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.61.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.77%. Altria Group’s 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.