Maia Wealth LLC Buys New Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Maia Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $642,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in Altria Group by 5.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,935,224,000 after acquiring an additional 589,832 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,079,919,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,605 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its stake in Altria Group by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,232,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,310,000 after acquiring an additional 197,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,414,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,563,000 after acquiring an additional 39,341 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on MO. Barclays upped their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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, Bank of America upgraded 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $55.83 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $58.03. The business has a 50-day moving average of $52.77 and a 200-day moving average of $52.91. The company has a market capitalization of $94.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.52, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.