Xponance Inc. Has $7.86 Million Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 194,931 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,015 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $7,864,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 103.2% during the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.9 %

Altria Group stock opened at $42.07 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $48.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $41.91 and its 200-day moving average is $41.43. The company has a market capitalization of $72.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.21, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.65.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.78%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.