Florida Financial Advisors LLC Takes $205,000 Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Florida Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,215,000 after purchasing an additional 19,893 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,573,000 after buying an additional 12,011 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 8.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 706,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,084,000 after acquiring an additional 54,102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 48.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 89,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,581,000 after buying an additional 29,421 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MO. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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 upped their price target for the company 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 issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.6 %

MO stock opened at $56.73 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $95.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $54.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.65 and a 12 month high of $59.67.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. On average, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

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.