ICW Investment Advisors LLC Buys 998 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

ICW Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,205 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 998 shares during the quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 2.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,159,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,679,000 after acquiring an additional 46,697 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its stake in Altria Group by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,215,000 after acquiring an additional 19,893 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 240,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,573,000 after acquiring an additional 12,011 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 706,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,084,000 after buying an additional 54,102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 48.8% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 89,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,581,000 after buying an additional 29,421 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $57.46 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $54.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.46. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.65 and a 52-week high of $59.67.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business 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 7.10%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

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.