4,241 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Purchased by Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP

Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 4,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $655,000. Northcape Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 29.5% during the third quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $490,000 after acquiring an additional 2,187 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.8% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 54,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,796,000 after purchasing an additional 2,003 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.9% during the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 83,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,271,000 after purchasing an additional 776 shares during the period. Finally, Dearborn Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $205,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO opened at $55.93 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.26. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $56.32. The company has a market cap of $94.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This is an increase from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.29%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

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.