Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by Cohen Investment Advisors LLC

Cohen Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,717 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.5% during the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,060,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Altria Group by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 3.5% during the third quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP now owns 5,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 200 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MO. 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. Citigroup raised their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of MO opened at $51.14 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.64, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.