Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA Acquires 305 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA grew its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,986 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Altria Group accounts for 1.3% of Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,048,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,128,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 293.6% during the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after buying an additional 41,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $43.97. 1,887,249 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,853,371. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.47. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $47.71. The company has a market cap of $75.52 billion, a PE ratio of 9.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.92%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MO shares. 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently 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.