Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 24.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,674,441 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 915,478 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.26% of Altria Group worth $188,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 103.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 1,800.0% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock opened at $43.82 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50-day moving average is $42.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.49. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $47.71.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted 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 company had revenue of $4.72 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on MO. UBS Group raised their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. One 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

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.