Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 107.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,800 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,820 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 420.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 85.1% during the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MO. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $52.65 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $53.09 and a 200 day moving average of $52.44. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $58.03. The company has a market cap of $89.24 billion, a PE ratio of 8.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64.

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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.75%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.29%.

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.