Simmons Bank Purchases 1,791 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Simmons Bank raised its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,171 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,791 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,060,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $681,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 4,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Down 2.0 %

NYSE MO opened at $54.86 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $92.98 billion, a PE ratio of 8.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $58.03. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.83.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders 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 7.44%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

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.