CWA Asset Management Group LLC Raises Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 240,454 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,011 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $12,573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.4% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 177,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,529 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.6% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 97,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,449,000 after buying an additional 4,273 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 8.9% during the second quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 10,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 2,459.6% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 237,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,810,000 after acquiring an additional 228,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 14,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $641,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. Barclays upped their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America upgraded shares of 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 report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.33.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MO traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $52.89. 1,273,615 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,075,259. The stock has a market cap of $89.64 billion, a PE ratio of 8.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.63. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03. The business’s fifty day moving average is $54.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 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 firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.71%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.