Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) is Kennon Green & Company LLC’s 6th Largest Position

Kennon Green & Company LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 122,448 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,844 shares during the quarter. Altria Group makes up 5.0% of Kennon Green & Company LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Kennon Green & Company LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 103.2% in the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered 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 issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock traded up $0.32 during trading on Monday, reaching $43.70. The company had a trading volume of 4,881,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,929,564. The company has a market cap of $75.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $42.18 and its 200-day moving average is $41.45. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

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