Meritage Portfolio Management Purchases 365 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Meritage Portfolio Management increased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,838 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $567,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Choreo LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 78.8% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 136,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,141,000 after buying an additional 60,369 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 163,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,542,000 after acquiring an additional 16,051 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 50,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,571,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Altria Group by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,472,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,103,000 after acquiring an additional 247,592 shares during the period. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its position in Altria Group by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 58,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,075,000 after purchasing an additional 1,244 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $52.58 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $53.39 and a 200-day moving average of $52.42. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03. The firm has a market cap of $89.11 billion, a PE ratio of 8.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. On average, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 62.29%.

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.