Jacobi Capital Management LLC Purchases 3,306 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 14.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 26,167 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,306 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,368,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 2.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,679,000 after acquiring an additional 46,697 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,215,000 after acquiring an additional 19,893 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,573,000 after acquiring an additional 12,011 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,935,224,000 after acquiring an additional 589,832 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 729.8% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,511,000 after buying an additional 1,731,932 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $55.83 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.90. The firm has a market cap of $94.61 billion, a PE ratio of 8.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 7.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MO shares. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

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.