Key Financial Inc Sells 968 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Key Financial Inc lowered its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 24.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,998 shares of the company’s stock after selling 968 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MO. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 103.2% in the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 1,800.0% in the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $41.14 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $41.84 and its 200 day moving average is $41.43. The firm has a market cap of $70.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. UBS Group lifted their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

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.