Roxbury Financial LLC Takes Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $323,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 0.5% in the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,362 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,060,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,015 shares of the company's stock valued at $681,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,302 shares of the company's stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP now owns 5,860 shares of the company's stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,851 shares of the company's stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MO. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO traded down $0.60 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $52.70. 8,264,174 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,306,937. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $52.70 and a 200 day moving average of $52.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group's payout ratio is 62.29%.

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.