Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) VP Charles N. Whitaker Sells 22,487 Shares

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $43.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.56 and a 200 day moving average of $41.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $46.82.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.01%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Altria Group announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MO shares. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 120.6% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,762,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,201,000 after buying an additional 4,789,788 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 54.1% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,653,455 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,094 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 305,996.5% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,316,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $525,810,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

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.