Lincoln National Corp Has $3.35 Million Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Lincoln National Corp reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 16.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 83,124 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,392 shares during the quarter. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 103.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1,800.0% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.8 %

Altria Group stock traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $43.85. 12,050,526 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,849,357. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.49. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $46.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.15, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. Altria Group’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits 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 board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.