MCF Advisors LLC Purchases 201 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

MCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 14,321 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 201 shares during the quarter. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $762,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Altria Group by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,935,224,000 after purchasing an additional 589,832 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,079,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,605 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Altria Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,793,000 after purchasing an additional 191,236 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,703 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. Citigroup increased their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price 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. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $51.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50-day moving average is $54.25 and its 200 day moving average is $52.07. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. Altria Group’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.93%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.92%.

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.