Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 14.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,994 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,027 shares during the quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $322,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,564,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,262,710,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240,150 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 1.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,456,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,857,271,000 after purchasing an additional 840,559 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 1.9% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,856,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,596,257,000 after purchasing an additional 671,929 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Altria Group by 5.1% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,517,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $990,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 108,222.5% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,590,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $849,763,000 after purchasing an additional 18,573,146 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $36.10 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.82.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of MO stock traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $42.93. 10,026,104 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,786,752. The company has a market cap of $75.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $41.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.50. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

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.