Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Increases Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 93.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 708,088 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 342,953 shares during the period. Altria Group makes up about 0.7% of Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $37,026,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MO. CX Institutional increased its holdings in Altria Group by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 125,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,562,000 after buying an additional 22,506 shares during the last quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $920,000. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. now owns 11,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 49.8% in the fourth quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 8,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 2,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 16,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $861,000 after purchasing an additional 3,769 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on MO shares. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Barclays increased their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $51.65 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.71, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $54.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.10.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.90%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.