Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Purchases 2,864 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 29.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,637 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,864 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Security Advisor Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 96,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,035,000 after buying an additional 4,389 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $320,000. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 29,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280 shares during the last quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 61,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,238,000 after purchasing an additional 2,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prosperitas Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Prosperitas Financial LLC now owns 56,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,977,000 after purchasing an additional 4,916 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $55.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $94.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.52, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $58.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.89.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.31%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

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.