Entropy Technologies LP Purchases New Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 64,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,387,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 420.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America raised 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. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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 issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.0 %

MO opened at $52.65 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $53.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.44. The company has a market capitalization of $89.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.04, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.25 and a 52 week high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.75%. 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.