Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Bought by McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC

McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 17.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,261 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,547 shares during the quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $537,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 163.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 50,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,317,000 after acquiring an additional 31,568 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 387.9% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 350,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,956,000 after purchasing an additional 278,500 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in Altria Group by 16.4% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 189,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,620,000 after buying an additional 26,597 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,072,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 65,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,995,000 after buying an additional 4,364 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.5 %

MO opened at $51.92 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $54.29 and its 200-day moving average is $51.95. The stock has a market cap of $87.99 billion, a PE ratio of 8.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current 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 issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.