Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners Makes New Investment in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. RFG Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 11,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 666.7% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 6,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO opened at $42.87 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $48.04. The company has a market capitalization of $73.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.44.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.14%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.78%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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