Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Boosts Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,559 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 895 shares during the quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter worth about $41,000. Fairman Group LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 330.4% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.2 %

MO stock opened at $53.55 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $58.03. The company has a market cap of $90.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.21.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.62%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.43.

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.