Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Courier Capital LLC

Courier Capital LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 31.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,950 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,912 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1,800.0% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $43.66 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.53. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $48.04.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.98%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 85.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on MO shares. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $36.10 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.82.

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.