Ridgepath Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Ridgepath Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,609 shares of the company’s stock after selling 267 shares during the period. Altria Group makes up about 1.4% of Ridgepath Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Ridgepath Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MO. State Street Corp boosted its position in Altria Group by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,821,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,935,224,000 after acquiring an additional 589,832 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,079,919,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,605 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,034,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,916,000 after acquiring an additional 670,858 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,051,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,786,000 after acquiring an additional 35,953 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $51.59 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $53.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.29. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $58.03. The company has a market cap of $87.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.91%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 68.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup increased their price target on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.43.

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.