Duality Advisers LP Acquires 4,395 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Duality Advisers LP grew its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 19.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,192 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,395 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,097,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,128,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 293.6% in the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after acquiring an additional 41,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $42.87 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $42.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.44. The stock has a market cap of $73.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.38, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.14%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 85.78%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are 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.