Alpha Cubed Investments LLC Decreases Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lowered its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,115 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,273 shares during the quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $973,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,456,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,857,271,000 after buying an additional 840,559 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,609,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $698,432,000 after buying an additional 42,490 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,526,000 after buying an additional 1,343,094 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,174,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,278,000 after buying an additional 722,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,464,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,850,000 after buying an additional 1,038,408 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. 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 assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $43.70 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $75.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.47. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $47.71.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

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

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.