Pure Financial Advisors LLC Grows Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Pure Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 115.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,854 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,202 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 163.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 50,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,317,000 after acquiring an additional 31,568 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 47,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,160,000 after buying an additional 2,848 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Altria Group by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,097,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,969,000 after buying an additional 42,904 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 5.9% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 234,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,671,000 after buying an additional 13,086 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 66.5% in the second quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $772,000 after acquiring an additional 6,162 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of MO opened at $51.92 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $87.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $58.03. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $54.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. 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 firm posted $1.28 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.86%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.