Valmark Advisers Inc. Has $269,000 Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 26.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,147 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,065 shares during the quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $269,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 85.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.1 %

Altria Group stock opened at $52.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.05, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50-day moving average of $52.70 and a 200-day moving average of $52.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued 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 7.74%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.29%.

Altria Group Company 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.