Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Bought by Taylor Financial Group Inc.

Taylor Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,424 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Taylor Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 9,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 1,979 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 451,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,060,000 after acquiring an additional 19,673 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $397,000. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $13,476,000. Finally, ETF Store Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. ETF Store Inc. now owns 7,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO opened at $58.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $53.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.35. The company has a market capitalization of $99.53 billion, a PE ratio of 8.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.65 and a fifty-two week high of $59.67.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.93%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective 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 assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

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.