Eagle Global Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Eagle Global Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,454 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,575 shares during the quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MO. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 39.9% during the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 27,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 7,785 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 12.2% during the third quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 520,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,900,000 after purchasing an additional 56,655 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth $357,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth $891,000. Finally, Lincoln National Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 7.7% in the third quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 99,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,185,000 after acquiring an additional 7,117 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:MO traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $45.49. 4,727,695 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,044,842. The firm has a market cap of $78.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $46.60. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.92.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.62%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Altria Group

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

About Altria Group

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.