United Advisor Group LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

United Advisor Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,739 shares of the company’s stock after selling 821 shares during the period. United Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 11,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $576,000 after buying an additional 1,292 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 64.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 6,954 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 29.7% in the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 16,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $861,000 after buying an additional 3,769 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 37.7% in the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 5,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 1,626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 19,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,013,000 after buying an additional 2,225 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $59.74 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $43.83 and a 12 month high of $61.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.69. The stock has a market cap of $100.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $60.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

Altria Group Company 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.