Graham Capital Management L.P. Invests $1.74 Million in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 33,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,742,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank increased its position in Altria Group by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 367,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,215,000 after buying an additional 19,893 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group increased its position in Altria Group by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 54,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,859,000 after buying an additional 12,320 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in Altria Group by 27.6% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,418,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,441,000 after buying an additional 523,146 shares during the last quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. increased its position in Altria Group by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. now owns 36,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,932,000 after buying an additional 10,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XML Financial LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 37,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,954,000 after buying an additional 10,781 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO opened at $59.46 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.29. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $43.83 and a twelve month high of $61.26. The stock has a market cap of $100.16 billion, a PE ratio of 9.08, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. Citigroup raised their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price target on Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised their price target on Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on 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, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

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.