Sigma Planning Corp Cuts Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sigma Planning Corp lowered its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 58.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,477 shares of the company’s stock after selling 73,784 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,456,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,857,271,000 after purchasing an additional 840,559 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.9% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,856,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,596,257,000 after purchasing an additional 671,929 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Altria Group by 5.1% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,517,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $990,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192,266 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 108,222.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,590,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $849,763,000 after purchasing an additional 18,573,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Altria Group by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,105,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $781,883,000 after purchasing an additional 1,531,337 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $42.09 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $72.30 billion, a PE ratio of 9.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.43. 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 results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.