Bank of New Hampshire Sells 500 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Bank of New Hampshire cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 17.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,320 shares of the company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Bank of New Hampshire’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $94,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 54.1% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,084,000 after buying an additional 1,653,455 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,526,000 after buying an additional 1,343,094 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 305,996.5% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,316,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,347,000 after buying an additional 1,315,785 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $525,810,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 19.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,464,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038,408 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Price Performance

NYSE:MO traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $43.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,207,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,987,708. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $48.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $42.05 and its 200-day moving average is $41.45. The firm has a market cap of $74.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.00%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.78%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MO shares. 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. 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. One equities 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus 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.