Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. Purchases Shares of 4,037 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MO. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $91,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $859,257,000 after buying an additional 1,444,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $466,811,000 after buying an additional 1,323,421 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $59.44 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $43.83 and a 1-year high of $61.26. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $58.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.12 billion, a PE ratio of 9.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MO. Barclays boosted their price target on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup increased their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Altria Group 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.