Blue Trust Inc. Buys 5,883 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 21.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,941 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,883 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MO. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Fairman Group LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 330.4% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of MO stock opened at $53.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $53.94 and a 200-day moving average of $52.21. The company has a market cap of $90.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.65%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Barclays upped their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on 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 target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

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.