VSM Wealth Advisory LLC Makes New Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $240,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Enterprise Financial Services Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during 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 boosted 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 buying an additional 198 shares during the period. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 4,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MO. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley cut 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $58.09 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $40.65 and a one year high of $59.67. The stock has a market cap of $98.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.87, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $54.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.45.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 62.29%.

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.