Imprint Wealth LLC Trims Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Imprint Wealth LLC decreased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,544 shares of the company’s stock after selling 972 shares during the period. Imprint Wealth LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 31,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,304,000 after acquiring an additional 2,122 shares during the period. KPP Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,128,000. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 41,432 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. 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 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $40.94. 2,690,933 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,583,857. The company has a market cap of $70.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.92, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $41.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.44. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.57%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.