V Square Quantitative Management LLC Has $907,000 Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,339 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 888 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted 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 bought a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC boosted 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. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target 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. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $53.37 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $52.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $58.03. The company has a market cap of $90.44 billion, a PE ratio of 8.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.65%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

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.