Callan Capital LLC Takes Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Callan Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 5,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 103.2% during the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter worth about $30,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MO shares. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MO traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $43.38. The company had a trading volume of 13,794,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,969,122. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $48.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $42.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.47. The stock has a market cap of $74.51 billion, a PE ratio of 9.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Altria Group declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.