Viewpoint Capital Management LLC Has $1.22 Million Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Viewpoint Capital Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 19.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 23,281 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,746 shares during the period. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $661,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter worth about $200,000. CX Institutional boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 18.7% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 102,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,256,000 after purchasing an additional 16,247 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 37,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,934,000 after buying an additional 825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 531,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,128,000 after buying an additional 24,039 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of MO opened at $53.90 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.25 and a twelve month high of $58.03. The stock has a market cap of $91.34 billion, a PE ratio of 8.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $53.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.52.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.57%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

About Altria Group

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.