Amalgamated Bank Raises Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 369,896 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,767 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $19,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MO. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at about $231,000. Modera Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 10.0% in the third quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 1,953 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.9% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 388,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,861,000 after purchasing an additional 28,451 shares during the period. Ridgepath Capital Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 4.6% during the third quarter. Ridgepath Capital Management LLC now owns 58,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,005,000 after acquiring an additional 2,603 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Folios Inc raised its position in Altria Group by 4.4% during the third quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 163,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,335,000 after acquiring an additional 6,892 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $55.15 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $58.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $52.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.78. The company has a market cap of $93.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.42, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64.

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 net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. Sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 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 issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.40%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MO. Morgan Stanley cut 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 research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

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.