MBE Wealth Management LLC Acquires New Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

MBE Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 5,682 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 5.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company's stock worth $3,821,831,000 after buying an additional 3,910,738 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company's stock worth $2,935,224,000 after acquiring an additional 589,832 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,079,919,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,605 shares during the period. National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company's stock valued at $205,916,000 after acquiring an additional 670,858 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,051,644 shares of the company's stock valued at $155,786,000 after purchasing an additional 35,953 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock traded down $0.91 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $52.54. The company had a trading volume of 10,639,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,290,179. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $58.03. The company has a market capitalization of $89.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.77%. 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.