Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC Invests $693,000 in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 12,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $693,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,581 shares of the company's stock worth $240,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Enterprise Financial Services Corp lifted 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 buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,015 shares of the company's stock worth $681,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 921 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, CMG Global Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. CMG Global Holdings LLC now owns 35,349 shares of the company's stock worth $1,796,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $59.61. 5,214,844 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,668,349. The business's 50-day moving average is $58.16 and its 200-day moving average is $55.75. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $43.83 and a 12-month high of $61.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.41 billion, a PE ratio of 9.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. Altria Group's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities 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 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average 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.