Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by Hutner Capital Management Inc.

Hutner Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,852 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,504 shares during the quarter. Altria Group accounts for about 2.6% of Hutner Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Hutner Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,679,000 after purchasing an additional 46,697 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,215,000 after buying an additional 19,893 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,573,000 after acquiring an additional 12,011 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in Altria Group by 48.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 89,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,581,000 after acquiring an additional 29,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group grew its holdings in Altria Group by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 54,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,859,000 after acquiring an additional 12,320 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.57.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock opened at $59.30 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $57.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.05, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $43.37 and a 1 year high of $60.18.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

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.