Consolidated Planning Corp Lowers Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Consolidated Planning Corp trimmed its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 56.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,273 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,293 shares during the quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% in the third 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 period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 period. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MO traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $43.38. The stock had a trading volume of 13,794,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,969,122. The company has a market capitalization of $74.51 billion, a PE ratio of 9.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.46. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results 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 negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders 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 yield of 9.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

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

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.