Empirical Finance LLC Buys 11,019 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 20.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 65,802 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,019 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,679,000 after purchasing an additional 46,697 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Altria Group by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,215,000 after buying an additional 19,893 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,573,000 after buying an additional 12,011 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.3% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,330,000 after acquiring an additional 32,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 589,832 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $52.65 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03. The company’s fifty day moving average is $53.09 and its 200-day moving average is $52.44. The stock has a market cap of $89.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 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.