Signaturefd LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 9.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,244 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,912 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,686,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,679,000 after acquiring an additional 46,697 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Altria Group by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,215,000 after buying an additional 19,893 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,573,000 after buying an additional 12,011 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,935,224,000 after buying an additional 589,832 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 706,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,084,000 after buying an additional 54,102 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.1 %

MO stock opened at $58.87 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.35. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.65 and a twelve month high of $59.67. The firm has a market cap of $99.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

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.