Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stock Position Raised by Heritage Family Offices LLP

Heritage Family Offices LLP lifted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,530 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 420 shares during the quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $394,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 420.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter worth $41,000. Fairman Group LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 85.1% during the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price 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. Two equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $51.04 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $86.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.62, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $54.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.92. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

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.