XML Financial LLC Purchases 10,781 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

XML Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 40.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,370 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,781 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,954,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 163.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 50,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,317,000 after purchasing an additional 31,568 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 234,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,671,000 after buying an additional 13,086 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 51.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 2,993 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 1,634.3% in the 2nd quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 6,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 6,537 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 68.5% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 66,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,008,000 after acquiring an additional 26,853 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. 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 Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $51.47 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $87.23 billion, a PE ratio of 8.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.07. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

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.