Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Has $1.24 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. lowered its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,662 shares of the company’s stock after selling 920 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MO. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 420.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Fairman Group LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 85.1% in the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 330.4% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company 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 given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock opened at $51.92 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $54.29 and a 200 day moving average of $51.99. The company has a market cap of $87.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.77, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

Altria Group Company 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.