Cypress Wealth Services LLC Lowers Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cypress Wealth Services LLC lessened its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,800 shares of the company’s stock after selling 639 shares during the period. Cypress Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $356,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MO. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Fairman Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 85.1% in the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 330.4% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.43.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $51.92 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $58.03. The stock has a market cap of $87.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $54.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.91.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.92%.

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.