Northstar Financial Companies Inc. Purchases New Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Northstar Financial Companies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 12,213 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $639,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC raised Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $59.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,320,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,652,622. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $43.83 and a 12-month high of $61.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $58.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.07, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict 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 will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.87%. Altria Group's payout ratio is 68.34%.

Altria Group 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.