Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC Purchases New Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $96,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,938,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,193,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,748 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Altria Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 22,273,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,164,681,000 after purchasing an additional 76,004 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Altria Group by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $859,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Altria Group by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,801,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $617,124,000 after purchasing an additional 983,328 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO opened at $59.74 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.68. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $43.83 and a 52-week high of $61.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.83%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.00.

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.