May Barnhard Investments LLC Acquires Shares of 5,609 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

May Barnhard Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $293,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its position in Altria Group by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 26,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,333,000 after acquiring an additional 5,719 shares in the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $267,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 32,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,656,000 after buying an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 58,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,983,000 after buying an additional 7,677 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 209,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,694,000 after buying an additional 12,496 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $58.50 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.65 and a 52 week high of $59.67. The company has a market capitalization of $98.90 billion, a PE ratio of 8.93, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $53.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.27.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its 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 net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. On average, sell-side 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.