Capital Analysts LLC Decreases Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Capital Analysts LLC reduced its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 39.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,852 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,813 shares during the quarter. Capital Analysts LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 31,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,304,000 after buying an additional 2,122 shares during the period. KPP Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,128,000. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 293.6% in the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after acquiring an additional 41,432 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $41.09 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.99, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $48.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.43.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.