Css LLC Il Acquires 6,800 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Css LLC Il boosted its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 29.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 30,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,800 shares during the period. Css LLC Il’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $218,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 15,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $820,000 after buying an additional 926 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in Altria Group by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 91,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,798,000 after buying an additional 2,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pure Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 115.3% during the 4th quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 35,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,875,000 after buying an additional 19,202 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.6%

MO opened at $59.85 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $43.83 and a 52 week high of $61.26. The stock has a market cap of $100.81 billion, a PE ratio of 9.14, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50 day moving average of $58.08 and a 200-day moving average of $55.58.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.34%.

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.