Evernest Financial Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Evernest Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 195.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,113 shares of the company's stock after acquiring 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.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 729.8% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,969,262 shares of the company's stock worth $100,511,000 after buying an additional 1,731,932 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 3,786.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,743,443 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,985,000 after buying an additional 1,698,585 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,079,919,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company's stock worth $205,916,000 after acquiring an additional 670,858 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE MO traded up $0.66 on Friday, hitting $52.20. The company had a trading volume of 9,546,622 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,927,325. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82, a PEG ratio of 2.76 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $53.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.29.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on 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 increased their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.29.

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.