4,217 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Bought by West Michigan Advisors LLC

West Michigan Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 4,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MO. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays increased their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock opened at $55.83 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $58.03. The company has a market cap of $94.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $52.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.90.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.31%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

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.