Avaii Wealth Management LLC Has $469,000 Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Avaii Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,619 shares of the company’s stock after selling 799 shares during the period. Avaii Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 103.2% during the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $43.70. 3,286,159 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,909,942. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $42.18 and its 200-day moving average is $41.45. The stock has a market cap of $75.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders 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 8.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan 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 plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors 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.