Benjamin Edwards Inc. Trims Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 48,400 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,366 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on MO shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $60.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.58 and a fifty-two week high of $60.63. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $57.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 68.34%.

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.