Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC Makes New $386,000 Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 7,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $386,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MO. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 163.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 50,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,317,000 after buying an additional 31,568 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Altria Group by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,141,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,550,000 after purchasing an additional 423,091 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 387.9% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 350,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,956,000 after purchasing an additional 278,500 shares during the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its position in Altria Group by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 25,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,309 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Alliance boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 9,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MO. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays increased their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE MO traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $51.41. 1,331,794 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,146,521. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.91. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.68, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.94%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 68.92%.

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.