Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Makes New $205,000 Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter worth $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% in the second quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 85.1% during the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in Altria Group during the second quarter valued at $44,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $53.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $91.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.57. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $54.95.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The company’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.57%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.17.

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.