Bill Few Associates Inc. Raises Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Bill Few Associates Inc. increased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,398 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the period. Bill Few Associates Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 163.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 50,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,317,000 after acquiring an additional 31,568 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 5.9% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 234,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,671,000 after purchasing an additional 13,086 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 51.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 2,993 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Altria Group by 68.5% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 66,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,008,000 after purchasing an additional 26,853 shares during the period. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 21,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $989,000 after purchasing an additional 3,085 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their price target 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. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $50.82 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $54.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 8.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 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.