Cwm LLC Purchases 40,075 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cwm LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 22.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 220,511 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 40,075 shares during the period. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $8,895,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 1.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,456,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,857,271,000 after buying an additional 840,559 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Altria Group by 0.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,609,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,432,000 after purchasing an additional 42,490 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343,094 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 8.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,174,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,278,000 after purchasing an additional 722,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,464,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038,408 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE MO opened at $42.57 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $48.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.43. The firm has a market cap of $73.12 billion, a PE ratio of 9.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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 paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

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.