Michels Family Financial LLC Acquires New Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Michels Family Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 18,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $983,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $1,726,000. Peak Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $818,000. Invst LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Invst LLC now owns 4,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Helium Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $273,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE MO opened at $59.74 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.68. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $43.83 and a 12-month high of $61.26. The firm has a market cap of $100.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.34%.

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.