Heck Capital Advisors LLC Makes New $421,000 Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 8,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $421,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,218,000 after buying an additional 2,296,972 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,193,687,000 after buying an additional 1,134,748 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Altria Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,164,681,000 after buying an additional 76,004 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Altria Group by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $859,257,000 after buying an additional 1,444,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Altria Group by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $617,124,000 after buying an additional 983,328 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $59.74 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.71. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.83 and a fifty-two week high of $61.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share 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 for 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. Altria Group’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. 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. 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

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.