Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Has $8.21 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 116.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 203,405 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 109,428 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $8,205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 103.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 1,800.0% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Altria Group stock traded down $0.16 on Wednesday, hitting $46.67. 6,853,142 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,329,905. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.22. The company has a market cap of $80.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $46.85.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.