First City Capital Management Inc. Acquires 889 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

First City Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,436 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 889 shares during the quarter. Altria Group makes up about 0.8% of First City Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. First City Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,539,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 420.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 63.9% in the 2nd 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. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 85.1% in the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.33.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MO stock traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $52.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,293,870 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,858,824. The stock has a market cap of $89.71 billion, a PE ratio of 8.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.63. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $58.03. The company has a 50 day moving average of $54.53 and a 200 day moving average of $51.50.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.71%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.92%.

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.