iSAM Funds UK Ltd Makes New $305,000 Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vident Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 185,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,706,000 after acquiring an additional 3,044 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 97.4% during the 4th quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 10,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 5,310 shares during the last quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Altria Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 174,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,137,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP grew its stake in Altria Group by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 8,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $437,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trace Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth $310,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on MO shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $59.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $100.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.58. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.83 and a fifty-two week high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. The company’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 68.34%.

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.