5,528 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Purchased by HTLF Bank

HTLF Bank purchased a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 103.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:MO opened at $42.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $72.30 billion, a PE ratio of 9.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $41.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.43. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.02 billion during 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%. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.18 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.31%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.78%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.