Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp Sells 5,101 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp lowered its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 48.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,402 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,101 shares during the period. Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 103.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. ZRC Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of MO traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $41.73. 1,229,591 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,590,009. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.42. The firm has a market cap of $71.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.39%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Company 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.