Tucker Asset Management LLC Acquires 1,914 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Tucker Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 145.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,234 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,914 shares during the quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $130,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 371,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,694,000 after buying an additional 100,380 shares during the period. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter worth about $628,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 10.7% in the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 132,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,559,000 after purchasing an additional 12,802 shares during the last quarter. Wealthsource Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $230,000. Finally, Phoenix Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $280,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $44.32. The stock had a trading volume of 10,651,618 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,216,503. The business has a fifty day moving average of $44.36 and a 200 day moving average of $42.48. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $47.19. The firm has a market cap of $76.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The company’s quarterly 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. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.84%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

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.