Albion Financial Group UT Purchases 871 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Albion Financial Group UT grew its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 46.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,760 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MO. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Fairman Group LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 330.4% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $50.82 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.14 billion, a PE ratio of 8.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50-day moving average is $54.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.11. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.03%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.43.

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.