Premier Fund Managers Ltd Purchases New Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 95,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,948,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 420.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on MO shares. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.29.

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Altria Group Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of MO traded up $1.23 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $59.38. 6,791,264 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,844,541. The firm has a market cap of $100.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.07, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.65 and a 12-month high of $59.89. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $55.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group's payout ratio is 62.29%.

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.