Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 19.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 947,121 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 152,945 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.06% of Altria Group worth $49,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 6.9% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 136,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,961,000 after purchasing an additional 8,823 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 7.7% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 55,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,827,000 after purchasing an additional 3,975 shares in the last quarter. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter worth $216,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 7.1% during the third quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 26,778 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gladius Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.0% during the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 5,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $58.97 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.65 and a 1-year high of $59.67. The company’s fifty day moving average is $53.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.31.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.92%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.