Serenus Wealth Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 11,722 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Serenus Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 11,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $613,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 85.1% in the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of MO stock opened at $52.65 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 $53.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.42. The company has a market capitalization of $89.24 billion, a PE ratio of 8.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.75%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MO shares. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. 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 research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

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.