Kentucky Trust Co Buys Shares of 2,200 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 23,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 3,746 shares during the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 11,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 10,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 18,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $954,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,253,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock opened at $53.35 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.15, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $52.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.54. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

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.