Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stock Position Raised by Atlas Brown Inc.

Atlas Brown Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,530 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 545 shares during the quarter. Atlas Brown Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter worth $1,351,000. AdvisorShares Investments LLC increased 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 buying an additional 1,093 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 9.1% during the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 2,677,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,938,000 after buying an additional 224,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted 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 worth $669,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, 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 note on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO traded down $0.80 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $50.69. 8,300,096 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,107,899. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $58.03. The stock has a market cap of $85.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $54.62 and its 200 day moving average is $51.73.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 68.92%.

Altria Group 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.