Ritholtz Wealth Management Boosts Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 157,014 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,089 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in Altria Group were worth $8,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MO. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 163.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 50,862 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,317,000 after purchasing an additional 31,568 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Altria Group by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,141,605 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,550,000 after acquiring an additional 423,091 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 387.9% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 350,300 shares of the company's stock worth $15,956,000 after acquiring an additional 278,500 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its position in Altria Group by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 25,310 shares of the company's stock worth $1,153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,309 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Alliance grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 9,065 shares of the company's stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Barclays increased their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $51.69. 1,895,215 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,177,605. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $54.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.91. The firm has a market cap of $87.61 billion, a PE ratio of 8.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during 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%. Altria Group's revenue 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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued 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 7.89%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.