Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stock Holdings Boosted by Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC

Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 30.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 37,867 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,915 shares during the period. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Prosperitas Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Prosperitas Financial LLC now owns 35,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,431,000 after acquiring an additional 3,514 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 33,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,371,000 after purchasing an additional 2,620 shares during the period. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $333,000. Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 19,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $767,000 after purchasing an additional 5,128 shares during the period. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 96.2% in the fourth quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 20,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 9,908 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MO. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO traded down $0.12 on Tuesday, reaching $40.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,758,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,595,654. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $48.04. The stock has a market cap of $70.13 billion, a PE ratio of 8.95, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $41.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.44.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.60%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.