Brindle & Bay Financial Advisors LLC Invests $728,000 in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Brindle & Bay Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 12,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $728,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 64.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,000 after acquiring an additional 6,954 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 86.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 9,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $565,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $346,000. Finally, AXA S.A. acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,752,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Charles N. Whitaker sold 27,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total transaction of $1,885,743.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 180,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,221,318.33. This represents a 13.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Bank of America upped their price target on Altria Group from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.88.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:MO opened at $66.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $111.74 billion, a PE ratio of 16.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.41. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $54.70 and a 12 month high of $70.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $66.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.58.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $5.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 29.84% and a negative return on equity of 287.61%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 103.16%.

Altria Group Profile

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.