Baron Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Baron Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 15.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 305,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,603,000 after acquiring an additional 40,574 shares during the period. Regal Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 251,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,476,000 after buying an additional 10,079 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 2.3% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,456,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,330,000 after buying an additional 32,318 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 729.8% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,511,000 after buying an additional 1,731,932 shares during the period. Finally, White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at $483,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.33.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $55.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $94.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $56.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.47.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS 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 company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.30%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.92%.

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.