Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Grows Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 263,241 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,756 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $13,765,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 53.3% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 2,347 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 6.7% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 84,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,331,000 after buying an additional 5,318 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 49,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,523,000 after buying an additional 1,184 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 28.0% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 26,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,333,000 after buying an additional 5,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 3.9% in the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 6,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $57.83 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $53.52 and a 200 day moving average of $53.23. The company has a market cap of $97.77 billion, a PE ratio of 8.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.65 and a 12-month high of $59.67.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.05%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

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.