Yoder Wealth Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Yoder Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 6,969.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,813 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.2%

MO stock opened at $59.60 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $45.17 and a twelve month high of $61.26. The company’s 50 day moving average is $59.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.17. The stock has a market cap of $100.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.98, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.61.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 43.09% and a negative return on equity of 295.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.85%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.34%.

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.