Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. Has $390,000 Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,691 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 573 shares during the period. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $390,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 404,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,248,000 after purchasing an additional 6,324 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 5.2% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $974,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in Altria Group by 3.4% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,711,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,690,000 after purchasing an additional 89,334 shares during the period. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter worth approximately $498,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.9 %

MO stock opened at $41.05 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $48.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $41.82 and its 200-day moving average is $41.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.51 billion, a PE ratio of 8.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.55%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.78%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Altria Group

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.