Cascades Capital Asset Management LLC Buys Shares of 4,870 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cascades Capital Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 4,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MO. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 696,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,403,000 after purchasing an additional 194,630 shares during the last quarter. Rahlfs Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $634,000. Ted Buchan & Co lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Ted Buchan & Co now owns 14,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $747,000 after buying an additional 2,075 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 36,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,888,000 after buying an additional 1,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,601,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,319,000 after acquiring an additional 264,819 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.00.

Altria Group Trading Down 3.2 %

Altria Group stock opened at $56.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $94.77 billion, a PE ratio of 8.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.65 and a 12 month high of $60.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.80.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.28%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

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.