IRON Financial LLC Acquires 437 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

IRON Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,609 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 437 shares during the quarter. IRON Financial LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $764,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 258,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,523,000 after acquiring an additional 34,434 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 90,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,713,000 after purchasing an additional 2,431 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Altria Group by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 140,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,352,000 after buying an additional 4,211 shares during the last quarter. Apexium Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $561,000. Finally, Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Up 2.5 %

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

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MO. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

Altria Group 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.