Smith Anglin Financial LLC Increases Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Smith Anglin Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 36.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,395 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,752 shares during the quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 420.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Fairman Group LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 85.1% during the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on MO. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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 upped 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $51.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.69, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $58.03. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $54.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.92.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.93%. 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.