Avior Wealth Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Avior Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,521 shares of the company’s stock after selling 415 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 1,800.0% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. 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, StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.4 %

Altria Group stock opened at $41.26 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $48.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.87 billion, a PE ratio of 9.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 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.