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

Capital Analysts LLC cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 39.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,852 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,813 shares during the quarter. Capital Analysts LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $357,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sentry Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 96.2% during the fourth quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 20,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 9,908 shares in the last quarter. B&D White Capital Company LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. B&D White Capital Company LLC now owns 423,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,079,000 after buying an additional 113,765 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $4,312,000. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.1% in 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 in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MO. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $41.09 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $48.04. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.43.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.78%.

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.