Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Bought by Fortis Group Advisors LLC

Fortis Group Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,002 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 546 shares during the quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $523,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew 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 in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 85.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MO. Barclays boosted their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. 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 decreased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised 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 report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.5 %

MO opened at $53.37 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03. The stock has a market cap of $90.44 billion, a PE ratio of 8.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50 day moving average is $52.75 and its 200-day moving average is $52.61.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.65%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

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.