Coombe Bender & Co LLC Trims Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Coombe Bender & Co LLC cut its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 78.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,571 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,724 shares during the period. Coombe Bender & Co LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% during the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. ZRC Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 1,800.0% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock traded up $0.09 on Thursday, hitting $43.91. 2,505,579 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,807,744. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $47.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $42.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.66.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.93%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.