Wedmont Private Capital Sells 4,404 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Wedmont Private Capital decreased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 22.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,043 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,404 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $852,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $207,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $205,000. Lake Hills Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $279,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 28.1% in the first quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 7,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,000 after acquiring an additional 1,589 shares during the period. Finally, Intergy Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 11.4% in the first quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO opened at $59.05 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $43.83 and a one year high of $61.26. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.91%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.34%.

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.