DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Sells 4,888 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale trimmed its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 366,367 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,888 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $14,699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.3% during the third quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 31,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,304,000 after acquiring an additional 2,122 shares during the period. KPP Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter worth about $3,128,000. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 293.6% during the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 41,432 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $41.96 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.46. The company has a market capitalization of $72.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $48.04.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.34%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 85.78%.

Altria Group announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Company 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.