Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC Buys 244 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,643 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at $41,000. Fairman Group LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 85.1% in the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 330.4% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $51.92 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $58.03. The company has a market capitalization of $87.99 billion, a PE ratio of 8.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $54.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.95.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.86%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 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.