Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. Raises Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 40.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,145 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,477 shares during the quarter. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MO. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 388,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,861,000 after acquiring an additional 28,451 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 221,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,279,000 after acquiring an additional 7,366 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 31,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 13,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $54.86 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $92.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $52.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.83. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.44%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

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.