Wesbanco Bank Inc. Buys 700 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,591 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marino Stram & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 29,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,562,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 30,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 46.1% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 2,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. XML Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 40.5% in the fourth quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 37,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 10,781 shares during the period. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 10,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $51.17 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $54.10 and a 200-day moving average of $52.10. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $58.03. The company has a market capitalization of $86.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.64, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.64.

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, beating 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.97%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup increased their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

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.