InterOcean Capital Group LLC Sells 11,877 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

InterOcean Capital Group LLC lessened its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 35.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 21,831 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,877 shares during the period. InterOcean Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $881,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,456,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,857,271,000 after buying an additional 840,559 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Altria Group by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,609,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $698,432,000 after acquiring an additional 42,490 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,526,000 after buying an additional 1,343,094 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,174,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,278,000 after purchasing an additional 722,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,464,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,850,000 after buying an additional 1,038,408 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO traded down $0.58 on Thursday, reaching $45.74. The company had a trading volume of 1,682,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,516,123. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $46.60. The stock has a market cap of $78.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s fifty day moving average is $43.51 and its 200 day moving average is $41.86.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Altria Group announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management 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.