Simmons Bank Boosts Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Simmons Bank raised its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,708 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,181 shares during the period. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 11,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the period. Calamos Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 298.2% during the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 1,142 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 306,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,896,000 after buying an additional 28,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $43.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,050,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,849,357. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $46.82. The company has a market cap of $75.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.50.

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

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.94%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

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.