ERn Financial LLC Has $373,000 Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

ERn Financial LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,137 shares of the company’s stock after selling 406 shares during the period. ERn Financial LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $373,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 49.1% in the 4th quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 19,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 6,368 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 9,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 248,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,013,000 after buying an additional 6,193 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 9,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Anglin Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC now owns 10,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 2,752 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $51.14 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $58.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $54.38 and its 200-day moving average is $51.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.67 billion, a PE ratio of 8.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders 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 7.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Citigroup raised their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted 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. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.