Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 26,253 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 589 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,373,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 420.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. Fairman Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 85.1% during the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $50.84 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $54.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.84. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03. The company has a market cap of $86.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.59, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lifted 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. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 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.