Advantage Trust Co Purchases Shares of 1,000 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Advantage Trust Co acquired a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Altria Group by 1,800.0% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. 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, StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE MO traded up $0.42 on Thursday, hitting $44.71. The stock had a trading volume of 7,964,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,786,965. The company has a market capitalization of $76.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $46.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.69 and a 200-day moving average of $41.52.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.77%. 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 share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Altria Group

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.