Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Cuts Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP trimmed its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,680 shares of the company’s stock after selling 698 shares during the period. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its holdings in 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. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter valued at $30,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO traded up $0.05 on Wednesday, hitting $42.92. The stock had a trading volume of 12,425,988 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,959,617. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $42.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.44. The stock has a market cap of $73.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share 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%. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.