Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. Sells 664 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. lessened its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,609 shares of the company’s stock after selling 664 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 103.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO traded up $0.79 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $42.09. The stock had a trading volume of 22,325,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,630,883. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.43. The firm has a market cap of $72.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $48.04.

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

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.31%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

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.