Naviter Wealth LLC Takes $225,000 Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Naviter Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,204,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co. grew its stake in Altria Group by 13.6% in the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 8,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in Altria Group by 19.2% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 111,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,680,000 after purchasing an additional 17,887 shares during the period. RKL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter worth $205,000. Finally, Ted Buchan & Co lifted its position in Altria Group by 4.2% during the third quarter. Ted Buchan & Co now owns 12,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $623,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $57.79 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $97.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.65 and a fifty-two week high of $58.59. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.11.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 7.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 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.