Pandora Wealth Inc. Makes New Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Pandora Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sierra Ocean LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 226.3% in the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 51.8% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE MO opened at $64.21 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $59.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.83. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.86 and a 12-month high of $64.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.42, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 295.26% and a net margin of 37.24%. The company’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.13.

Altria Group Company 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.