Beck Mack & Oliver LLC Buys 8,925 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Beck Mack & Oliver LLC grew its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 225.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,890 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,925 shares during the period. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,041,000. Wealthquest Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $209,000. Chelsea Counsel Co. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.8% during the third quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 20,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,056,000 after buying an additional 1,465 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 35.9% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 13,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $672,000 after buying an additional 3,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 0.9% in the third quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 82,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,208,000 after buying an additional 730 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $58.13 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.25. The firm has a market cap of $98.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.87, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.39 and a 12 month high of $60.18.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced 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 negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.02%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

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.