Sage Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sage Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 49,207 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,573,000. Altria Group makes up 1.9% of Sage Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at $200,000. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Altria Group by 4.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 531,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,128,000 after purchasing an additional 24,039 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 4.9% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 67,010 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,420,000 after purchasing an additional 3,129 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Altria Group by 3.6% in the third quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 12,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $638,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. Finally, Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 6.1% in the third quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,262 shares of the company's stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 588 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MO. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock traded down $0.60 on Tuesday, reaching $52.70. 8,264,174 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,306,937. The company has a market cap of $89.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.05, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50-day moving average of $52.70 and a 200-day moving average of $52.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.74%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

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.