Ameriflex Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 9,360 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 9,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $489,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MO. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,581 shares of the company's stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Enterprise Financial Services Corp raised its holdings in Altria Group by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 5,052 shares of the company's stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,015 shares of the company's stock worth $681,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 921 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, CMG Global Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. CMG Global Holdings LLC now owns 35,349 shares of the company's stock worth $1,796,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group upped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of MO stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $59.61. 5,214,844 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,668,349. The business has a 50 day moving average of $58.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.75. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $43.83 and a 52 week high of $61.26. The company has a market capitalization of $100.41 billion, a PE ratio of 9.10, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. 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.