Stonebridge Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 2,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $112,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth $200,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 37,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after acquiring an additional 825 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in Altria Group by 4.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 531,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,128,000 after acquiring an additional 24,039 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.1% in the third quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 18,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lynch & Associates IN grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.0% in the third quarter. Lynch & Associates IN now owns 29,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,506,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $53.35 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $90.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.54. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

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.