Harbour Investments Inc. Purchases 1,184 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,428 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,184 shares during the quarter. Harbour Investments Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,523,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 63.9% during the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Fairman Group LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 85.1% during 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 during the period. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $54.44 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.97. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $55.05. The stock has a market cap of $92.27 billion, a PE ratio of 9.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.49%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio 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.