Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by LVW Advisors LLC

LVW Advisors LLC lowered its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 71,771 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,722 shares during the quarter. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,753,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 163.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 50,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,317,000 after buying an additional 31,568 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 387.9% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 350,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,956,000 after acquiring an additional 278,500 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 65,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,995,000 after acquiring an additional 4,364 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 47,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,097,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,969,000 after purchasing an additional 42,904 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $51.92 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $58.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.99 billion, a PE ratio of 8.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $54.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.99.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.86%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MO. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.43.

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.