Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,475 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,367 shares during the quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,128,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 293.6% in the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after buying an additional 41,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Altria Group by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,727,000 after buying an additional 4,789 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MO shares. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE MO opened at $42.09 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $72.30 billion, a PE ratio of 9.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $48.04. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.43.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. Research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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.