Meritage Portfolio Management cut its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO – Get Rating) by 82.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,858 shares of the company’s stock after selling 51,867 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $496,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Altria Group by 85.6% in the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 118.8% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 886 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors own 58.68% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Altria Group in a report on Thursday, April 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup decreased their target price on Altria Group from $49.50 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com began coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.50.
Altria Group Price Performance
Shares of NYSE MO opened at $46.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $40.35 and a one year high of $57.05. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.55.
Altria Group (NYSE:MO – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 284.29% and a net margin of 22.97%. The firm had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Altria Group Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 24th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 23rd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 117.87%.
Altria Group Profile
Altria Group, Inc operates as a holding company, which engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States. It operates through the following segments: Smokeable Products, Oral tobacco products, and Wine. The Smokeable Products segment consists of cigarettes manufactured and sold by PM USA and machine-made large cigars and pipe tobacco manufactured and sold by Middleton.
See Also
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