Marino Stram & Associates LLC Has $1.56 Million Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Marino Stram & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,873 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 279 shares during the quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MO. Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,060,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP raised its stake in Altria Group by 3.5% during the third quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP now owns 5,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 3.5% during the third quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $50.82 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.14 billion, a PE ratio of 8.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.11. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.03%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MO. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Company 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.