Strategic Financial Concepts LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5,280.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 292,242 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 286,810 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $15,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,935,224,000 after acquiring an additional 589,832 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,079,919,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,605 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its stake in Altria Group by 19.9% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,916,000 after acquiring an additional 670,858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Altria Group by 1.2% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,051,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,786,000 after acquiring an additional 35,953 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of 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 upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE MO opened at $52.65 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $53.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.42.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.75%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

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.