Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Acquired by Wealthspire Advisors LLC

Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 44.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,024 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,096 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth $3,128,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 293.6% in the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after acquiring an additional 41,432 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Altria Group by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Altria Group

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $44.71. 7,964,973 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,786,965. The company has a market cap of $76.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.35, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $46.46. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.52.

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

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.