Sylvest Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 12,508 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sylvest Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 12,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MO. Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 32.0% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 9,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after acquiring an additional 2,330 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its position in Altria Group by 6.2% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 347,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,740,000 after purchasing an additional 20,265 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 14.1% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 63,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,218,000 after purchasing an additional 7,788 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 28,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 7,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 12,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $632,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $52.20 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $53.57 and its 200-day moving average is $52.32. The company has a market cap of $88.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

About Altria Group

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.