Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Has $240,000 Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,592 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,679,000 after purchasing an additional 46,697 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 15.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,603,000 after buying an additional 40,574 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Altria Group by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,215,000 after buying an additional 19,893 shares in the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,476,000 after buying an additional 10,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,330,000 after buying an additional 32,318 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup upped their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO opened at $51.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $86.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 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. The business has a 50-day moving average of $54.44 and a 200 day moving average of $51.92.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.95%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.