Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. Purchases New Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 67.6% in 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. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 1,800.0% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective 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 issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $43.85. The stock had a trading volume of 12,050,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,849,357. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $46.82.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

Altria Group announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management 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.