Natixis Advisors L.P. Has $30.72 Million Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 761,453 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,613 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $30,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 63,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,650,000 after buying an additional 1,521 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $495,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,126,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,743,000 after acquiring an additional 238,450 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 9,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 3.1% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 11,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $43.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $74.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $46.86. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.99%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

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.