Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,600 shares of the company’s stock after selling 614 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Fairman Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. 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. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Finally, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $52.02 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $53.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.17 billion, a PE ratio of 8.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 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.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.84%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.92%.

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.