9,500 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Acquired by Guardian Partners Inc.

Guardian Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $489,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth about $2,183,000. Nwam LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 13,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $682,000 after acquiring an additional 1,925 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 151,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,747,000 after acquiring an additional 4,179 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 422,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,553,000 after acquiring an additional 53,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, StoneX Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 15,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $827,000 after acquiring an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.1 %

MO stock opened at $57.46 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.65 and a twelve month high of $59.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.46.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Altria Group Company 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.