Trexquant Investment LP Acquires Shares of 275,855 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 275,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,424,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. Bank of America upgraded 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 report on Friday, December 6th. 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $58.96 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.65 and a 1 year high of $60.18. The firm has a market cap of $99.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.00, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average of $55.38 and a 200 day moving average of $53.69.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.92%. 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.