8,079 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Acquired by Crescent Grove Advisors LLC

Crescent Grove Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $333,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 404,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,248,000 after purchasing an additional 6,324 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $974,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,711,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,690,000 after acquiring an additional 89,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $498,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.4 %

MO traded down $0.16 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $40.79. 1,415,002 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,566,301. The stock has a market cap of $70.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.96, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.83 and a 200 day moving average of $41.44. 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 results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.61%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.78%.

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.