Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Buys 2,527 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 51.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,442 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,527 shares during the quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter worth approximately $3,128,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 293.6% in the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 41,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Altria Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $42.07 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $72.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.21, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $48.04. The business’s 50 day moving average is $41.91 and its 200 day moving average is $41.43.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.32%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

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.