Compound Planning Inc. Buys 11,511 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Compound Planning Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 85,102 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,511 shares during the period. Compound Planning Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,622,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 8.6% during the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 335,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,158,000 after buying an additional 26,624 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,522,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,677,000 after acquiring an additional 44,303 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,073,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $797,587,000 after purchasing an additional 814,665 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,717,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,364,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599,923 shares during the period. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its holdings in Altria Group by 155.4% in the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 31,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,062,000 after purchasing an additional 18,997 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $68.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $115.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.77, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.47. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.82 and a 1 year high of $69.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $61.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.41.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 287.61% and a net margin of 29.84%.Altria Group’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th were issued a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 103.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Altria Group from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.33.

About Altria Group

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.