Lynch & Associates IN Has $1.64 Million Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Lynch & Associates IN grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,427 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,914 shares during the quarter. Lynch & Associates IN’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% during the 2nd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $50.84. The stock had a trading volume of 11,747,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,806,903. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $54.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.73.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.33.

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.