Oakworth Capital Inc. Acquires 401 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Oakworth Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,609 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 103.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $41.09 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.43. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $48.04. The firm has a market cap of $70.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given 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 yield of 9.54%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 85.78%.

Altria Group announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

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.