Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Syon Capital LLC

Syon Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 18.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,930 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,557 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,456,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,857,271,000 after acquiring an additional 840,559 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Altria Group by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,609,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $698,432,000 after acquiring an additional 42,490 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343,094 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,174,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,278,000 after acquiring an additional 722,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,464,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,850,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038,408 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $43.38 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $42.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.46. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $48.04. The stock has a market cap of $74.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.04%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 82.01%.

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a share 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 an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.