Spire Wealth Management Boosts Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 23.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,817 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,490 shares during the quarter. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bluesphere Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $202,000. Sylvest Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth about $654,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 289,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,154,000 after purchasing an additional 14,210 shares during the last quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth about $200,000. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 46,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,456,000 after purchasing an additional 2,427 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $52.87 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $89.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.07, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.37. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $58.03.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target 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 assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Company 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.