Kennon Green & Company LLC Sells 15,844 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Kennon Green & Company LLC trimmed its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 122,448 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,844 shares during the quarter. Altria Group makes up about 5.0% of Kennon Green & Company LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Kennon Green & Company LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MO. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 103.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $43.70. 4,881,802 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,929,564. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $42.18 and a 200-day moving average of $41.45. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $48.04. The firm has a market cap of $75.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.16, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MO. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on 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 assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

About Altria Group

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.