Hodges Capital Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 4,315 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 4,315 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter worth $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 85.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of MO stock opened at $52.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.60 billion, a PE ratio of 8.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $53.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.37. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $58.03.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.72%. Altria Group’s dividend 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.