Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Acquired by Savvy Advisors Inc.

Savvy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 72.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,822 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,330 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 62.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 16,395,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $954,446,000 after buying an additional 6,302,819 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth about $126,471,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,364,216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599,923 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 1,094.0% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,158,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061,413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,367,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,315,438,000 after purchasing an additional 886,583 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.6%

MO stock opened at $66.98 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.12. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.40 and a 12-month high of $68.60. The firm has a market cap of $112.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.47.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.32 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 29.84% and a negative return on equity of 287.61%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 103.16%.

Altria Group declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.67.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.