Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. Has $1.57 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,991 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,280 shares during the quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Verus Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 61,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,238,000 after purchasing an additional 2,249 shares during the period. Prosperitas Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Prosperitas Financial LLC now owns 56,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,977,000 after buying an additional 4,916 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 691,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,137,000 after acquiring an additional 47,279 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 6,819.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 296,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,504,000 after acquiring an additional 292,210 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 219,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,498,000 after acquiring an additional 10,365 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of MO opened at $55.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.85.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.41%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 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.