Quantessence Capital LLC Buys Shares of 8,544 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Quantessence Capital LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 8,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $447,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alta Advisers Ltd increased its stake in Altria Group by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 5,664 shares of the company's stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,339 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,475,000 after buying an additional 5,307 shares in the last quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 6,040,250 shares of the company's stock valued at $315,845,000 after buying an additional 352,931 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Altria Group by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,452,188 shares of the company's stock worth $75,934,000 after acquiring an additional 41,930 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury raised its stake in Altria Group by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 601,409 shares of the company's stock worth $31,448,000 after acquiring an additional 18,058 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company's stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Altria Group stock traded down $0.43 on Friday, reaching $58.28. 5,677,934 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,816,692. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.53 billion, a PE ratio of 8.90, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $42.76 and a 1-year high of $60.18. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $57.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.48.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MO. Citigroup lifted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.00.

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.