Lynch & Associates IN Buys 1,914 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Lynch & Associates IN raised its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 31,427 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,914 shares during the quarter. Lynch & Associates IN’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,643,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MO. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 63.9% during the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.33.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of MO traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $50.84. 11,747,674 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,806,903. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $58.03. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.73. The firm has a market cap of $86.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. Analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

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

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.