WCG Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

WCG Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,380 shares of the company’s stock after selling 288 shares during the quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $857,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,127,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,972 shares in the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth about $91,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,432,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $859,257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444,021 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,927,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $466,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323,421 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on MO. UBS Group boosted their price target on Altria Group from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.00.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO opened at $59.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s fifty day moving average is $58.13 and its 200 day moving average is $55.68. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.83 and a fifty-two week high of $61.26.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.83%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.34%.

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.