Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stock Position Lessened by Financial Counselors Inc.

Financial Counselors Inc. decreased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 15.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,571 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,586 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,274,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,122 shares during the last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter valued at $3,128,000. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 293.6% during the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 41,432 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $41.05 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $41.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.45. The company has a market cap of $70.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.02 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company 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 9.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 6th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

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.