CX Institutional Buys 22,506 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

CX Institutional lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 21.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 125,488 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,506 shares during the quarter. CX Institutional’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays upped their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $51.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.77 billion, a PE ratio of 8.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $58.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $54.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.10.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.88%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 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.