Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Patten & Patten Inc. TN

Patten & Patten Inc. TN reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 15.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,069 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,542 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MO. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Altria Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 404,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,248,000 after buying an additional 6,324 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.2% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $974,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.4% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,711,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,690,000 after purchasing an additional 89,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth about $498,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on MO shares. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. UBS Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $36.10 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.82.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE MO opened at $42.93 on Wednesday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $48.04. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $41.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.50. The firm has a market cap of $75.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.