Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Certuity LLC

Certuity LLC reduced its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 21.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,532 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,619 shares during the period. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MO. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in Altria Group by 4.7% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 91,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,881,000 after acquiring an additional 4,090 shares in the last quarter. Vicus Capital grew its position in Altria Group by 34.8% in the third quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 6,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,786 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 3.4% in the third quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 31,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,319,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 1.1% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 601,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,287,000 after acquiring an additional 6,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $288,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $43.81 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $48.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.47. The stock has a market cap of $75.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.95%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group 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.