Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. trimmed its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 53.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,918 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,201 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $77,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 103.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.7 %

MO stock opened at $41.96 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $72.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $48.04. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.46.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business 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 9.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are 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.