SteelPeak Wealth LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

SteelPeak Wealth LLC cut its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 12.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 162,559 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,352 shares during the quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $8,665,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Algert Global LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 32.0% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 9,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $437,000 after acquiring an additional 2,330 shares during the period. Creative Planning increased its position in Altria Group by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 507,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,569 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 60.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 1,313 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $127,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock opened at $52.54 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.26. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.04 billion, a PE ratio of 8.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. Altria Group’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.77%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

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.