Stokes Family Office LLC Sells 11,266 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Stokes Family Office LLC decreased its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,002 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,266 shares during the quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Altria Group by 2.6% during the third quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 58,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,445,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of MO stock traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $43.59. 11,196,830 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,879,438. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.06 and a 12-month high of $46.86. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $42.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.51.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released 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 negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows 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 believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

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.