Disciplined Equity Management Inc. Has $1.67 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Disciplined Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,425 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 770 shares during the period. Altria Group accounts for about 1.1% of Disciplined Equity Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Disciplined Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 103.2% during the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. ZRC Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Altria Group stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $42.92. 12,425,988 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,959,617. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.72 billion, a PE ratio of 9.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company 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 given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

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.