WealthPlan Investment Management LLC Has $333,000 Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

WealthPlan Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 15.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,637 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,037 shares during the quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 54,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,198,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 13,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306 shares during the period. Cobblestone Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Cobblestone Asset Management LLC now owns 9,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America raised their target price on Altria Group from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO traded up $1.01 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $50.02. 9,909,412 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,732,111. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $50.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.86.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The business had revenue of $6.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

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.