Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Position Reduced by Sepio Capital LP

Sepio Capital LP cut its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 20.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 53,868 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,262 shares during the period. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% in the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1,800.0% in the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MO. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $45.49. 4,727,695 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,044,842. The company has a market cap of $78.13 billion, a PE ratio of 9.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.92. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $46.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.62%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Altria Group

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.