Lafayette Investments Inc. Sells 650 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Lafayette Investments Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,036 shares of the company’s stock after selling 650 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:MO traded up $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $41.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,403,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,600,756. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $48.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $41.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.42. The stock has a market cap of $71.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.14, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share 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 business 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 earned $1.18 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict 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 stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

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.