Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Acquired by Seven Mile Advisory

Seven Mile Advisory grew its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,645 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the quarter. Seven Mile Advisory’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,679,000 after acquiring an additional 46,697 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its position in Altria Group by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,215,000 after buying an additional 19,893 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,573,000 after purchasing an additional 12,011 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 8.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 706,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,084,000 after buying an additional 54,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 48.8% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 89,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,581,000 after buying an additional 29,421 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of MO stock opened at $58.17 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.65 and a 1 year high of $59.67.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.01%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

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.