Retirement Guys Formula LLC Raises Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Retirement Guys Formula LLC raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 19.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,990 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,061 shares during the quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $993,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $53.90 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $53.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.23, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

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.