Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Buys 34,434 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 15.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 258,610 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 34,434 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $13,523,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 90,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,713,000 after buying an additional 2,431 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in Altria Group by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 140,591 shares of the company's stock worth $7,352,000 after purchasing an additional 4,211 shares during the period. Apexium Financial LP purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth about $561,000. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,397 shares of the company's stock worth $499,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 33,941 shares of the company's stock worth $1,732,000 after acquiring an additional 5,883 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. 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 report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $1.31 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $53.36. The stock had a trading volume of 9,767,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,080,503. The company has a market capitalization of $90.43 billion, a PE ratio of 9.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $53.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.21. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.65%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

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.