Southland Equity Partners LLC Purchases 2,937 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Southland Equity Partners LLC boosted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 49.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,837 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,937 shares during the quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 163.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 50,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,317,000 after acquiring an additional 31,568 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 68.5% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 66,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,008,000 after purchasing an additional 26,853 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.8% during the second quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 81,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,726,000 after purchasing an additional 7,323 shares in the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $367,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.7 %

MO opened at $51.17 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.64, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $54.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.10. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.97%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

About Altria Group

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.