Millstone Evans Group LLC Makes New $83,000 Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 1,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the period. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE MO opened at $57.46 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $54.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.46. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.65 and a 12-month high of $59.67.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.10%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MO. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

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.