GWN Securities Inc. Takes Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

GWN Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 29,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 50,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 895.7% in the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. one8zero8 LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,682,000. Choate Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 12,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 4,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 947,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,525,000 after purchasing an additional 152,945 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on MO shares. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE MO opened at $58.97 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.65 and a fifty-two week high of $59.67. The stock has a market cap of $99.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average of $53.75 and a 200-day moving average of $53.31.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.92%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

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.