Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC Has $8.82 Million Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 168,651 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,444 shares during the quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $8,819,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Quarry LP increased its stake in Altria Group by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the period. Berger Financial Group Inc increased its stake in Altria Group by 23.4% during the fourth quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 7,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 168,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,809,000 after acquiring an additional 14,644 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 42,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,200,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 6,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 1,103 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of MO opened at $58.18 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $43.37 and a 12-month high of $60.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.36 billion, a PE ratio of 8.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.00.

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.