MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Has $4.80 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 91,765 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,948 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. True Wealth Design LLC boosted 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 in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Fairman Group LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 85.1% during the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 330.4% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 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 research note on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE MO opened at $51.92 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $87.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 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. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.86%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.92%.

Altria Group Company 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.