KPP Advisory Services LLC Acquires 2,662 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

KPP Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 62,573 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,662 shares during the quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 32.0% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 9,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after acquiring an additional 2,330 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 347,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,740,000 after purchasing an additional 20,265 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 14.1% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 63,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,218,000 after buying an additional 7,788 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 38.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 28,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,463,000 after buying an additional 7,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 2.2% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 12,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $632,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. 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 lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE MO opened at $52.20 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $88.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.97, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.35. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. Sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.82%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

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.