McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. Grows Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,329 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1,800.0% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of MO traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $43.62. The stock had a trading volume of 9,805,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,809,103. The company has a market cap of $76.92 billion, a PE ratio of 9.54, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.54. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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 given 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 yield of 8.99%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MO. UBS Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $36.10 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.82.

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.