AlphaStar Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

AlphaStar Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,801 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 953 shares during the period. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Thompson Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $3,387,000. Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 65,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,441,000 after purchasing an additional 11,019 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 365,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,087,000 after purchasing an additional 4,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in Altria Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 90,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,715,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of MO opened at $52.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 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 moving average price of $53.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.44.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released 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 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. Analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued 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 7.75%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

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.