Hennessy Advisors Inc. Trims Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 180,100 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,500 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Altria Group were worth $9,417,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Goldstone Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at $325,000. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,717 shares of the company's stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 157,014 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,210,000 after acquiring an additional 7,089 shares during the period. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 330.4% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 88,237 shares of the company's stock worth $4,614,000 after acquiring an additional 5,949 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MO. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup raised their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.5 %

MO traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $51.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,514,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,480,446. The business's 50-day moving average price is $54.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.91. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03. The stock has a market cap of $87.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.86%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.92%.

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.