Heritage Family Offices LLP Has $394,000 Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Heritage Family Offices LLP increased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,530 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. Heritage Family Offices LLP’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at $41,000. Fairman Group LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock opened at $51.04 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.50 billion, a PE ratio of 8.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $54.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.92. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $58.03.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MO. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted 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. Barclays raised their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.