Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC Cuts Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 18.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,841 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,856 shares during the period. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,312,000. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 23,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $930,000 after buying an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 101.0% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 56,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,267,000 after acquiring an additional 28,241 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 40,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,653,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO opened at $40.95 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $48.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.96, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.44.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share 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 business earned $1.18 earnings per share. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 9.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MO. UBS Group boosted 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. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Company 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.