Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Holdings Boosted by Forum Financial Management LP

Forum Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 33.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,546 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,449 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after buying an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,193,687,000 after buying an additional 1,134,748 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,164,681,000 after buying an additional 76,004 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $859,257,000 after buying an additional 1,444,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,124,000 after buying an additional 983,328 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO opened at $59.74 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $58.13 and its 200-day moving average is $55.69. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $43.83 and a 12-month high of $61.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup upped their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

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.