Altrius Capital Management Inc Buys 3,246 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Altrius Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,620 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,246 shares during the period. Altrius Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter worth approximately $3,128,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 293.6% in the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after acquiring an additional 41,432 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Altria Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of a number of 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 increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.0 %

MO traded up $0.44 during trading on Monday, hitting $43.82. 8,627,405 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,977,568. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $48.04. The company has a market cap of $75.27 billion, a PE ratio of 9.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.45.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. Equities 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 share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

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

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.