Signet Financial Management LLC Makes New Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Signet Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 5,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $278,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 163.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 50,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,317,000 after purchasing an additional 31,568 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 24.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,141,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,550,000 after buying an additional 423,091 shares in the last quarter. One Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 1.2% during the second quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 22,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,014,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 54,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,492,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in Altria Group by 57.5% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 21,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $996,000 after acquiring an additional 7,983 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MO. Citigroup boosted their target price 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.33.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of MO opened at $50.84 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $54.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.88. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $58.03. The firm has a market cap of $86.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

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.