CoreFirst Bank & Trust Buys New Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $792,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $57.62 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $54.56 and a 200-day moving average of $53.48. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.65 and a 52-week high of $59.67. The stock has a market cap of $97.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.08%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 62.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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 raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Profile

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.