Altrius Capital Management Inc Has $3.49 Million Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Altrius Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 86,620 shares of the company’s stock after buying 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 quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Choreo LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 41,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,700,000 after purchasing an additional 4,986 shares during the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 22,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $907,000 after acquiring an additional 2,130 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 12,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paradigm Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC now owns 30,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,240,000 after purchasing an additional 2,714 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $43.82. 8,627,405 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,977,568. The company’s fifty day moving average is $42.18 and its 200-day moving average is $41.45. The firm has a market cap of $75.27 billion, a PE ratio of 9.16, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MO shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock 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 research report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus 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.