Hennessy Advisors Inc. Raises Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 74.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 191,700 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 81,700 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $8,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $483,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.0% during the first quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the period. Salvus Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $578,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Finally, CFM Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC now owns 81,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,304,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.1 %

MO stock traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $45.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,796,116 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,186,261. The company has a market capitalization of $78.01 billion, a PE ratio of 9.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $47.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.69.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

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.