Eagle Global Advisors LLC Acquires 92,012 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Eagle Global Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 585.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 107,716 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 92,012 shares during the period. Eagle Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Collar Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $1,506,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 71,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,713,000 after purchasing an additional 10,173 shares during the period. Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $915,000. Crestline Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 34,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,819,000 after buying an additional 7,272 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Altria Group by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 1,065,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,699,000 after acquiring an additional 46,863 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on MO. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $60.51 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.03. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $43.58 and a 12-month high of $60.64. The firm has a market cap of $101.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.74%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

About Altria Group

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.