Edgestream Partners L.P. Takes $1.12 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 21,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,122,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth about $34,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MO. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock opened at $58.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $98.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.20. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.65 and a 52 week high of $59.67.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.01%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 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.