Donaldson Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,974 shares of the company’s stock after selling 268 shares during the quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 103.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. ZRC Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 1,800.0% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $40.74 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $48.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.43.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.78%.

Altria Group announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.