Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Bought by ORG Partners LLC

ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,892 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,041,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MO. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.5% in the second quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter worth about $1,351,000. AdvisorShares Investments LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 11.6% during the second quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 10,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 9.1% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 2,677,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,938,000 after purchasing an additional 224,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 14,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $51.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,329,824 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,319,245. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.73. The stock has a market cap of $87.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. Altria Group’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.33.

Altria Group Company 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.