Certuity LLC Has $546,000 Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Certuity LLC lessened its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 21.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,532 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,619 shares during the period. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $204,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 171,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,952 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4,665.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,972,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,241,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,907 shares in the last quarter. Steele Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $228,000. Finally, Fernwood Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Fernwood Investment Management LLC now owns 68,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,773,000 after purchasing an additional 3,181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $43.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.17, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $48.04. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $42.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.47.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The company’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. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

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

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.