Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Has $1.10 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,972 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,565 shares during the quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,097,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth $231,000. Modera Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 10.0% during the third quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 1,953 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 7.9% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 388,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,861,000 after purchasing an additional 28,451 shares during the last quarter. Ridgepath Capital Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ridgepath Capital Management LLC now owns 58,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Insight Folios Inc lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 163,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,335,000 after buying an additional 6,892 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE MO opened at $55.15 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $52.62 and its 200-day moving average is $52.78. The firm has a market cap of $93.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Equities 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 Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

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.