Coulter & Justus Financial Services LLC Purchases Shares of 5,111 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Coulter & Justus Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MO. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 953 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 43,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,740,000 after acquiring an additional 6,211 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $437,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 761,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,716,000 after acquiring an additional 8,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,472,778 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,412,000 after acquiring an additional 13,165 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Altria Group stock traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $43.98. 9,048,589 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,887,383. The company’s fifty day moving average is $42.39 and its 200-day moving average is $41.49. The firm has a market cap of $75.54 billion, a PE ratio of 9.19, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $47.37.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

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