Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Has $1.02 Million Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 38.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,420 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,416 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,015,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted 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 worth $107,679,000 after buying an additional 46,697 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 15.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company's stock worth $15,603,000 after acquiring an additional 40,574 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted 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 last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,476,000 after purchasing an additional 10,079 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company's stock worth $74,330,000 after purchasing an additional 32,318 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Altria Group in a report on Thursday. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO traded up $0.10 during trading on Thursday, hitting $51.14. 5,960,215 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,637,479. The business's fifty day moving average is $54.38 and its 200 day moving average is $51.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $58.03.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.98%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

Altria Group Company 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.