SVB Wealth LLC Has $1.37 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

SVB Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,977 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,620 shares during the quarter. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% in the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on MO shares. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued 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 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, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given 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 Stock Up 0.4 %

MO stock opened at $41.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $70.87 billion, a PE ratio of 9.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50 day moving average of $41.87 and a 200-day moving average of $41.42. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month 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 for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.78%.

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.