Amalgamated Bank Grows Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 369,896 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 16,767 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $19,342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FourThought Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $421,000. Horizon Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $381,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 20,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after buying an additional 1,565 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Altria Group by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 32,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,711,000 after buying an additional 2,823 shares during the period. Finally, Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 40.8% in the 4th quarter. Rowlandmiller & PARTNERS.ADV now owns 2,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, 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 research report on Friday, January 31st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $55.15 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.25 and a 1 year high of $58.03. The company has a market capitalization of $93.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.42, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s fifty day moving average is $52.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.78.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.40%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 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.