264,032 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Acquired by Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.

Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 264,032 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,476,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MO. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 63.9% in the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO traded up $0.15 during trading on Monday, hitting $56.08. The stock had a trading volume of 3,281,173 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,750,114. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $56.55. The company's 50-day moving average price is $51.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.29. The company has a market capitalization of $95.04 billion, a PE ratio of 9.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.28%. Altria Group's payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

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.