Riverbend Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 6,018 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Riverbend Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 6,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $315,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Equitable Trust Co. increased its position in Altria Group by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 8,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 19.2% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 111,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,680,000 after buying an additional 17,887 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 7.8% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 201,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,268,000 after acquiring an additional 14,635 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter worth $196,000. Finally, Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 3.5% in the third quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE:MO opened at $58.98 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.65 and a 52-week high of $59.67. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.16. The company has a market capitalization of $99.72 billion, a PE ratio of 9.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

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.