Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by Natixis Advisors L.P.

Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 761,453 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,613 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $30,716,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth $3,128,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 293.6% during the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 41,432 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of MO opened at $43.59 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $46.86. The firm has a market cap of $74.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50 day moving average is $42.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.99%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.