Novus Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Novus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,122,000. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 9,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 45,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,410,000 after buying an additional 9,789 shares during the period. Callan Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 159.2% during the 4th quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 10,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $559,000 after buying an additional 6,560 shares during the period. Finally, Welch & Forbes LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 22,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,175,000 after buying an additional 1,217 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America raised 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 note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE MO opened at $57.13 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $96.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.72, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.04. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.65 and a twelve month high of $58.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.14%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 62.29%.

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.