Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY Decreases Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY lessened its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,856 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,426 shares during the period. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,084,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth about $3,128,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 293.6% in the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 41,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $45.55. 12,238,540 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,876,758. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $47.19. The stock has a market cap of $78.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $45.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.74.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.18 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.61%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of 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 issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.