Exchange Bank Grows Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Exchange Bank increased its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,518 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Exchange Bank’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Fairman Group LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 85.1% during the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 330.4% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $51.92 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $87.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $54.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.07.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business 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 was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.86%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective 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. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average 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.