First Horizon Advisors Inc. Has $1.14 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 15.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 28,288 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,362 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,141,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1,800.0% in the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $43.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $74.87 billion, a PE ratio of 9.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50 day moving average of $42.46 and a 200-day moving average of $41.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $46.86.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes 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 of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.