5,961 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Acquired by Armis Advisers LLC

Armis Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,961 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $312,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $315,000. Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth $693,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth $489,000. Challenger Wealth Management purchased a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $440,000. Finally, Ascent Group LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 88,186 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,611,000 after purchasing an additional 3,282 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $59.47. 4,755,482 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,657,087. The company has a market cap of $100.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.08, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $43.83 and a 52-week high of $61.26. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $58.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.77.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Altria Group's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on MO. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.00.

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.