Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Acquired by CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC

CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 895.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 697 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $36,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MO. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 6.9% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 136,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,961,000 after purchasing an additional 8,823 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 45,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,301,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 7.7% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 55,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,827,000 after buying an additional 3,975 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners acquired a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at $238,000. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 4.7% during the third quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 12,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $668,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $58.97 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.65 and a fifty-two week high of $59.67. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $53.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.31. The firm has a market cap of $99.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.00, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MO. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.