Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by TCG Advisory Services LLC

TCG Advisory Services LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,212 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,196 shares during the quarter. TCG Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $483,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $412,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Salvus Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 0.4% in the third quarter. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 58,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,445,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.7% in the third quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE MO traded down $0.39 on Friday, hitting $43.59. 11,228,966 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,736,930. The firm has a market cap of $74.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $42.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.49. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $46.86.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.