Howard Bailey Securities LLC Has $473,000 Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Howard Bailey Securities LLC decreased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,038 shares of the company’s stock after selling 625 shares during the quarter. Howard Bailey Securities LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $200,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 2.2% in the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 37,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after buying an additional 825 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 531,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,128,000 after buying an additional 24,039 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 18,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $942,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, Lynch & Associates IN increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lynch & Associates IN now owns 29,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,506,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays raised their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $53.35 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.42 billion, a PE ratio of 8.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $58.03. The company’s 50-day moving average is $52.96 and its 200 day moving average is $52.54.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.65%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.