7,784 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Purchased by Aljian Capital Management LLC

Aljian Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 7,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $397,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Delta Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.9% during the second quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% in the third quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP now owns 5,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 3.5% in the third quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Zhang Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 18,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO opened at $55.93 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $56.32. The company has a market capitalization of $94.79 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $51.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.29.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. 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.