Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Bought by Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC

Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 30.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 37,867 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,915 shares during the quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE MO traded down $0.12 on Tuesday, hitting $40.83. 3,758,975 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,595,654. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $48.04. The company has a market cap of $70.13 billion, a PE ratio of 8.95, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $41.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.44.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.60%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.78%.

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

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.