Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC Purchases 505 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 74,058 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,872,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. M&G PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.0% during the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 91,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,680,000 after buying an additional 6,041 shares during the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.7% during the third quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 10,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.0% during the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,204,000 after buying an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. Beckerman Institutional LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at $247,000. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at $11,660,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO opened at $57.79 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $97.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $53.15 and its 200-day moving average is $53.10. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $40.65 and a one year high of $58.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.06%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MO. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upgraded 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 report on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

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.