WealthPlan Investment Management LLC Buys 261 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

WealthPlan Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,922 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 63.9% in the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Altria Group by 33.4% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Altria Group Trading Up 0.9 %

Altria Group stock opened at $54.44 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $55.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $51.50 and a 200 day moving average of $48.97.

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

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This is a positive change from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.49%. 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.