Telos Capital Management Inc. Invests $346,000 in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Telos Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $346,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in Altria Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 103.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 67.6% during the 4th 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. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 1,800.0% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.8 %

MO opened at $41.09 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.58 billion, a PE ratio of 8.99, a PEG ratio of 2.45 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 50-day moving average price of $41.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.43.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 85.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.