Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Bought by Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 56,219 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,613 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,128,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 293.6% in the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 41,432 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Altria Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One research 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.36 on Tuesday, reaching $42.93. 7,787,445 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,798,188. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.38, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s 50-day moving average is $41.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.43. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $48.04.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 85.78%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 programs are usually an indication that the company’s management 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.