Ellenbecker Investment Group Cuts Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Ellenbecker Investment Group cut its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 39,373 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,081 shares during the quarter. Altria Group accounts for about 0.4% of Ellenbecker Investment Group’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Ellenbecker Investment Group’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 1.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,456,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,857,271,000 after purchasing an additional 840,559 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Altria Group by 0.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,609,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $698,432,000 after purchasing an additional 42,490 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,094 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 8.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,174,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,278,000 after purchasing an additional 722,258 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 19.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,464,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038,408 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $42.87. 16,824,854 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,920,313. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $48.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $41.95 and a 200-day moving average of $41.43. The stock has a market cap of $73.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 85.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MO. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

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.