Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 15.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 258,610 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 34,434 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $13,523,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Fairman Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 330.4% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price objective 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE MO opened at $52.84 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $53.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.21. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $58.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.88, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.72%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.