Cypress Capital Group Lowers Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cypress Capital Group reduced its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 65,216 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,622 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,410,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on MO shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of MO opened at $56.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $95.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.60, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50-day moving average of $52.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.99. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.72 and a 12-month high of $58.59.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 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.