Evernest Financial Advisors LLC Increases Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Evernest Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 195.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,113 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,003 shares during the period. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Algert Global LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 32.0% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 9,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 2,330 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $16,747,000. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at about $443,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 7.9% in the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 9,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 7,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $51.59 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $58.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $53.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.29. The company has a market cap of $87.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.72, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. Sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.91%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

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.