Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Acquired by Spire Wealth Management

Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,282 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $483,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Whitener Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $412,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Salvus Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.4% during the third quarter. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 58,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,445,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 5.7% during the third quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued 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 report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Insider Activity at Altria Group

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $43.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.50. The company has a market capitalization of $75.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $46.67.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership 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.