PFG Investments LLC Purchases 559 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

PFG Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,344 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the quarter. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 31,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,304,000 after purchasing an additional 2,122 shares in the last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,128,000. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 293.6% in the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 41,432 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $36.10 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.82.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock opened at $43.66 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $41.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.53. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $48.04. The stock has a market cap of $76.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

Altria Group announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.