Brookstone Capital Management Purchases 6,242 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO – Get Rating) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 77,007 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,242 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 199.7% in the 2nd quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Almanack Investment Partners LLC. bought a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,000. Institutional investors own 58.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.50 to $49.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.13.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of MO stock opened at $45.32 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.35 and a 12-month high of $57.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $46.28 and a 200-day moving average of $45.33.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.18. Altria Group had a net margin of 22.97% and a negative return on equity of 284.29%. The company had revenue of $5.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 24th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.30%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 23rd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.87%.

Altria Group Company Profile

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Altria Group, Inc operates as a holding company, which engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States. It operates through the following segments: Smokeable Products, Oral tobacco products, and Wine. The Smokeable Products segment consists of cigarettes manufactured and sold by PM USA and machine-made large cigars and pipe tobacco manufactured and sold by Middleton.