Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by DGS Capital Management LLC

DGS Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 13.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,378 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,225 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 37.7% in the fourth quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 5,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,626 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 93.9% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 708,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,026,000 after buying an additional 342,953 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its position in Altria Group by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 125,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,562,000 after buying an additional 22,506 shares during the period. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $920,000. Finally, Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in Altria Group by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. now owns 11,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO opened at $52.02 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $54.01 and its 200-day moving average is $52.09. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03. The company has a market capitalization of $88.17 billion, a PE ratio of 8.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. Altria Group’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.84%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

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.