Generali Investments Management Co LLC Invests $40,000 in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Generali Investments Management Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MO. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Enterprise Financial Services Corp boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 5,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $681,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Altria Group by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp lifted its stake in Altria Group by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 4,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $57.97 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.42. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.65 and a 52 week high of $59.67. The stock has a market cap of $98.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.85, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.04%. 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.