Hardin Capital Partners LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Hardin Capital Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,008 shares of the company’s stock after selling 449 shares during the quarter. Hardin Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MO. Tyler Stone Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 78,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,130,000 after buying an additional 6,282 shares during the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. raised its stake in Altria Group by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 37,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,958,000 after acquiring an additional 3,321 shares in the last quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its position in Altria Group by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 5,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $205,000. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 107,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,615,000 after purchasing an additional 2,960 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of MO stock opened at $56.73 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $95.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $54.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.51. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.65 and a twelve month high of $59.67.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.19%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

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.