Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Sells 7,355 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. cut its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 83,624 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,355 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 103.2% during the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $42.57 on Tuesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $48.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $41.95 and a 200 day moving average price 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.21%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

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.