ORG Partners LLC Grows Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 101.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,191 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 28,241 shares during the quarter. ORG Partners LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,267,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 21,586 shares of the company's stock worth $987,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 5,825 shares of the company's stock worth $246,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,981 shares of the company's stock worth $483,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Day & Ennis LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Day & Ennis LLC now owns 5,353 shares of the company's stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whitener Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,797 shares of the company's stock worth $412,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MO. UBS Group raised their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $41.05. The company had a trading volume of 10,436,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,723,283. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $41.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group's payout ratio is 85.78%.

Altria Group announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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