TRUE Private Wealth Advisors Sells 1,218 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

TRUE Private Wealth Advisors lessened its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,390 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,218 shares during the period. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Altria Group were worth $580,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 404,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,248,000 after purchasing an additional 6,324 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 5.2% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $974,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Altria Group by 3.4% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,711,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,690,000 after purchasing an additional 89,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank bought a new stake in Altria Group in the first quarter valued at $498,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $41.09 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $48.04. The stock has a market cap of $70.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.84 and a 200 day moving average of $41.43.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.54%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MO shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.