Evanson Asset Management LLC Has $485,000 Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Evanson Asset Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,022 shares of the company’s stock after selling 328 shares during the quarter. Evanson Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. ZRC Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Altria Group by 1,800.0% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $36.10 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.82.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of MO traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $43.62. 9,805,972 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,809,103. The company has a market cap of $76.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $48.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $41.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.54.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.08 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 85.78%.

Altria Group Company 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.