Northstar Advisory Group LLC Sells 250 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Northstar Advisory Group LLC decreased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,314 shares of the company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 7.3% during the third 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 in the last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter worth $3,128,000. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 293.6% during the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after buying an additional 41,432 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $36.10 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.82.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $43.86 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.53. The company has a market cap of $77.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. The business 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%. The firm’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. On average, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.94%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.78%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management 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.