Hedeker Wealth LLC Makes New $263,000 Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Hedeker Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 5,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 6,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.5% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,754,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,772,000 after acquiring an additional 54,096 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter worth $228,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp increased its position in Altria Group by 21.6% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 19,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $865,000 after acquiring an additional 3,518 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.5 %

MO stock traded down $0.24 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.01. The company had a trading volume of 1,618,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,790,862. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.17. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $54.95. The company has a market cap of $85.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $6.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.39 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.25% and a negative return on equity of 232.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share 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 issued 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.16%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.