Guardian Partners Inc. Takes Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Guardian Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $489,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth $2,183,000. Nwam LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 16.8% in the third quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 13,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $682,000 after acquiring an additional 1,925 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 2.8% in the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 151,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,747,000 after acquiring an additional 4,179 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 422,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,553,000 after acquiring an additional 53,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, StoneX Group Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 15,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of 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 upped their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of MO opened at $57.46 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $54.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.46. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.65 and a twelve month high of $59.67. The company has a market cap of $97.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted 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 negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.10%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.29%.

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.