Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Washington Trust Advisors Inc.

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 13,218 shares of the company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Procyon Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 9,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130 shares in the last quarter. Next Level Private LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Next Level Private LLC now owns 33,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,352,000 after acquiring an additional 4,084 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Altria Group by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 90,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,642,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 176,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,124,000 after purchasing an additional 25,300 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 14,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $579,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $36.10 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.82.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $43.76. 4,468,984 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,716,633. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $48.04. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $41.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.53. The company has a market cap of $77.17 billion, a PE ratio of 9.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results 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. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership 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.