Tradewinds LLC. Acquires 998 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Tradewinds LLC. boosted its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 11.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,900 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 998 shares during the quarter. Tradewinds LLC.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp grew its holdings in Altria Group by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 5,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $681,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 4,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in 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. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Up 3.4 %

Altria Group stock opened at $60.11 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.65 and a 12 month high of $60.18. The company has a market cap of $101.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.18, a PEG 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 for the quarter, topping 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, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

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.