HF Advisory Group LLC Acquires 26,924 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

HF Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 80.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,298 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,924 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 62.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 16,395,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $954,446,000 after purchasing an additional 6,302,819 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Altria Group by 286.7% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,479,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,929,000 after buying an additional 3,321,262 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 438.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,637,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,749,000 after buying an additional 2,962,270 shares during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $89,460,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 24.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,264,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $413,815,000 after buying an additional 1,249,525 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Altria Group

In other news, SVP Charles N. Whitaker sold 27,908 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total transaction of $1,885,743.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 180,869 shares in the company, valued at $12,221,318.33. This represents a 13.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Argus raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.75.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of MO opened at $65.46 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $52.82 and a twelve month high of $70.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $65.89 and a 200-day moving average of $62.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.02). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 287.61% and a net margin of 29.84%.The business had revenue of $5.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 103.16%.

Altria Group Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.