Heck Capital Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased 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 Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 8,052 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $421,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its stake in Altria Group by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 54,684 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,859,000 after purchasing an additional 12,320 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,418,074 shares of the company's stock worth $126,441,000 after buying an additional 523,146 shares during the period. Burford Brothers Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 40.3% during the 4th quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. now owns 36,951 shares of the company's stock worth $1,932,000 after buying an additional 10,605 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,414,856 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,563,000 after purchasing an additional 39,341 shares during the period. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 70,826 shares of the company's stock worth $3,703,000 after acquiring an additional 20,309 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on 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 objective on Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock traded down $0.13 on Tuesday, hitting $59.61. 5,214,844 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,668,349. The stock 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $43.83 and a twelve month high of $61.26. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $58.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.75.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. The company's revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.34%.

Altria Group Company 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.