Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stake Lowered by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 545,495 shares of the company’s stock after selling 503 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $22,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,456,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,857,271,000 after buying an additional 840,559 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Altria Group by 0.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343,094 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 8.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,174,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,278,000 after purchasing an additional 722,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 19.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,464,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038,408 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $43.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,228,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,736,930. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $46.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.66.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

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

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

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.