Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. Makes New $71,000 Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,060,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $681,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP now owns 5,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MO. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE MO opened at $53.84 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03. The company’s 50 day moving average is $53.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.49. The stock has a market cap of $91.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.22, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted 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 net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

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 of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.58%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

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.