Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Bought by Founders Financial Alliance LLC

Founders Financial Alliance LLC raised its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 66,717 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 599 shares during the period. Altria Group accounts for 1.0% of Founders Financial Alliance LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Founders Financial Alliance LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Altria Group Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE:MO opened at $58.98 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.65 and a 52-week high of $59.67. The firm has a market cap of $99.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.00, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $53.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.16.

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, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.92%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MO. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

About Altria Group

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.