Prudential PLC Makes New $328,000 Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Prudential PLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 5,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sierra Ocean LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 226.3% in the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 51.8% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $40,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of MO opened at $65.82 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $110.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.73, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average of $60.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.30. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.86 and a 12-month high of $66.29.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.13.

Altria Group Company 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.