Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 16.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 204,754 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,555 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $10,752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of MO stock opened at $52.70 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $52.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03. The company has a market capitalization of $89.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.74%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MO. Barclays raised their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price 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 raised their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

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.