Choreo LLC Buys 4,986 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Choreo LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 13.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 41,136 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,986 shares during the period. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,700,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 4.3% during the third quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 5,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $483,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 2.6% during the third quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $412,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 0.4% during the third quarter. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 58,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,445,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO opened at $43.81 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $75.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $42.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.47. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.95%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MO. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

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.