Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Kwmg LLC

Kwmg LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 125,199 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,911 shares during the period. Kwmg LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $6,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MO. Aviance Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.5% in the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,060,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 7,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc grew its position in Altria Group by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP grew its position in Altria Group by 3.5% in the third quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP now owns 5,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.5% during the third quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $50.84. 4,097,530 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,389,437. The stock has a market cap of $86.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.84. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.03%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MO. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their target price on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.33.

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.