FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Boosts Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH raised its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,560 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $552,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in Altria Group by 61.7% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $414,000 after acquiring an additional 3,024 shares during the period. Whitener Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,831,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the period. Somerset Trust Co purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $246,000. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 80,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,193,000 after buying an additional 6,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $386,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.5 %

Altria Group stock opened at $51.92 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $54.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.91. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $58.03. The stock has a market cap of $87.99 billion, a PE ratio of 8.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.86%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

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.