Vista Investment Partners II LLC Takes Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Vista Investment Partners II LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Equitable Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 13.6% during the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 8,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 19.2% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 111,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,680,000 after purchasing an additional 17,887 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.8% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 201,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,268,000 after purchasing an additional 14,635 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter worth $196,000. Finally, Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% during the third quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE:MO opened at $58.98 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.65 and a 1 year high of $59.67. The stock has a market cap of $99.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.00, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $53.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.16.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. 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%.

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.