Allen Capital Group LLC Purchases 208 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,167 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Allen Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.5% in the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,060,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% in the third quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP now owns 5,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 3.5% during the third quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 4,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $52.81 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $89.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $58.03. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.29.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.73%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

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.