Sweeney & Michel LLC Makes New $213,000 Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sweeney & Michel LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 4,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MO. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. BNP Paribas bought a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% during the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $49.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 590,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,890,843. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.88. The stock has a market cap of $85.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 232.55% and a net margin of 42.25%. The company had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. 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 8.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MO shares. UBS Group increased their price target on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Altria Group from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.20.

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.