Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Buys 3,334 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC grew its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 56.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,280 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,334 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $485,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dearborn Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 4,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $315,000. Davis R M Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 7,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 552 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners II LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $216,000. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in Altria Group by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 154,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,076,000 after acquiring an additional 12,789 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.4 %

MO stock opened at $58.17 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.20. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.65 and a 12-month high of $59.67. The firm has a market cap of $98.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.88, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.29%.

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.