Baxter Bros Inc. Sells 438 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Baxter Bros Inc. cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,030 shares of the company’s stock after selling 438 shares during the quarter. Baxter Bros Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in Altria Group by 8.8% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 431,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,159,000 after buying an additional 34,786 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 55,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,321,000 after purchasing an additional 3,873 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.8% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 36,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,517,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 32.6% in the third quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 17,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 4,339 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MO. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group upped their price target 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, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $43.59. 11,228,966 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,736,930. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $46.86. The company has a market cap of $74.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.50 and a 200 day moving average of $41.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan 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 plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

About Altria Group

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.