Verity & Verity LLC Has $15.73 Million Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Verity & Verity LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 300,722 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,154 shares during the period. Altria Group makes up 1.4% of Verity & Verity LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Verity & Verity LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $15,725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Altria Group by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company's stock worth $3,821,831,000 after buying an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,935,224,000 after acquiring an additional 589,832 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 2.5% in the 3rd 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 period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Altria Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company's stock worth $562,793,000 after purchasing an additional 191,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $295,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,703 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $51.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,528,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,772,463. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $54.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a PEG 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.86%. Altria Group's payout ratio is 68.92%.

Altria Group 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.