Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC Raises Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,728 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 974 shares during the quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $594,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $46.34 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $79.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.69, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $46.60. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.86.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.46%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of Altria Group 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly 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 accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.