Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Acquired by TCW Group Inc.

TCW Group Inc. increased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,460 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 442 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc grew its holdings in Altria Group by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 208,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,875,000 after purchasing an additional 2,764 shares during the period. Callan Capital LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 11,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 2,399 shares during the period. Winebrenner Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $359,000. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 39,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,085,000 after purchasing an additional 6,216 shares during the period. Finally, Lane & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Lane & Associates LLC now owns 5,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE MO opened at $55.15 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.78. 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 $93.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.42, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.40%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.