West Michigan Advisors LLC Makes New $225,000 Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

West Michigan Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 4,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MO. Barclays raised 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.4 %

Altria Group stock opened at $55.83 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $58.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $52.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.61 billion, a PE ratio of 8.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.