264,032 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Bought by Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.

Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 264,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,476,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its position in Altria Group by 66.2% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 46,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,021,000 after acquiring an additional 18,450 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 33.4% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.6% during the first quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 6,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the period. Rockport Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter valued at about $215,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 45.5% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 65,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,854,000 after purchasing an additional 20,438 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $55.93 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $56.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.29%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.92%.

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.