Johnson Financial Group Inc. Acquires 14,644 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 168,666 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,644 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $8,809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,679,000 after purchasing an additional 46,697 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company's stock worth $19,215,000 after purchasing an additional 19,893 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company's stock worth $12,573,000 after purchasing an additional 12,011 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 48.8% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 89,761 shares of the company's stock worth $4,581,000 after purchasing an additional 29,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 54,684 shares of the company's stock worth $2,859,000 after purchasing an additional 12,320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup increased their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $55.00.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.1 %

Altria Group stock traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $58.18. 8,844,149 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,772,483. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $43.37 and a 12 month high of $60.18. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $57.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.88, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.01%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

About Altria Group

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.