Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Takes Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.4% during the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 28,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after buying an additional 4,161 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 92.3% in the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 68,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,151,000 after acquiring an additional 32,875 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 605,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,578,000 after purchasing an additional 113,451 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 195,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,895,000 after purchasing an additional 12,861 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 7.4% during the second quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 38,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 2,630 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO opened at $51.46 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03. The stock has a market cap of $87.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $54.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.73.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The business’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.93%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.33.

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.