Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Acquired by Disciplined Equity Management Inc.

Disciplined Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,425 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the period. Altria Group accounts for approximately 1.1% of Disciplined Equity Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Disciplined Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MO. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 37,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after buying an additional 2,142 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 161,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,542,000 after buying an additional 12,659 shares during the last quarter. Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at $77,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 53,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,153,000 after buying an additional 1,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at $330,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MO shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. One investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $42.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,425,988 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,959,617. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $48.04. The stock has a market cap of $73.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.39, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s fifty day moving average is $42.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.45.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.13%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program 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 programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Altria Group

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.