Bristlecone Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Bristlecone Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,906 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,211 shares during the period. Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock 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 lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $53.84 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.25 and a one year high of $58.03. The business has a fifty day moving average of $53.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.49. The company has a market cap of $91.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. Sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.29%.

Altria Group Company 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.