Amalgamated Bank Has $17.39 Million Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Amalgamated Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 431,012 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,364 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $17,387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,128,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 293.6% in the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after buying an additional 41,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Altria Group by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $43.59. 11,196,830 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,879,438. The business 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. The company has a market capitalization of $74.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.