WealthPlan Investment Management LLC Acquires 261 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

WealthPlan Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,922 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,603,000 after purchasing an additional 40,574 shares during the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.2% during the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,476,000 after buying an additional 10,079 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.3% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,330,000 after buying an additional 32,318 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $483,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock opened at $54.44 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $55.05. The firm has a market cap of $92.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.20, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.97.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.92%.

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.