Stokes Family Office LLC Reduces Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Stokes Family Office LLC lowered its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 69,002 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,266 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,784,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Coulter & Justus Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $206,000. 9258 Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 953 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 43,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 6,211 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 761,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,716,000 after purchasing an additional 8,613 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $43.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,196,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,879,438. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $46.86. The business’s 50-day moving average is $42.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.51. The company has a market capitalization of $74.87 billion, a PE ratio of 9.12, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 business had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

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

Altria Group announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of 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 given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.