Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. Sells 317 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,932 shares of the company’s stock after selling 317 shares during the period. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MO. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Down 1.4 %

MO stock opened at $41.53 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $41.71 and its 200-day moving average is $41.50. The company has a market cap of $73.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 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.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion for 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group announced that its board has approved a share buyback 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 generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MO. UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $36.10 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.82.

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.