Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC Invests $386,000 in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC bought a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,373 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $386,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Altria Group by 5.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company's stock worth $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 729.8% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731,932 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3,786.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,743,443 shares of the company's stock worth $88,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698,585 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company's stock worth $295,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company's stock worth $2,079,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,605 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO traded up $0.76 on Friday, reaching $51.92. 6,528,941 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,628,470. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $58.03. The firm 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. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.91.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The business 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 was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.43.

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.