Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Altria Group by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after buying an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 136.4% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 2,022,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,737,000 after buying an additional 1,166,701 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,317,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,481,000 after buying an additional 1,096,205 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $58.17 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.65 and a twelve month high of $59.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.01%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

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.