Roundview Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO – Free Report) by 43.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,680 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,184 shares during the quarter. Roundview Capital LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 8.5% in the second quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 96,401,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,367,008,000 after acquiring an additional 7,546,851 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,564,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,262,710,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240,150 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 1.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,456,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,857,271,000 after acquiring an additional 840,559 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 3.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,025,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,672,836,000 after acquiring an additional 1,168,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 5.1% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,517,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $990,002,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192,266 shares during the last quarter. 58.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MO shares. UBS Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $36.10 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.22.
Altria Group Trading Up 0.1 %
Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.03 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $40.74. 920,790 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,751,984. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $48.04. The company has a market cap of $72.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.68.
Altria Group (NYSE:MO – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 243.71% and a net margin of 33.21%. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Altria Group Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 21st were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 20th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.78%.
Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Altria Group Company Profile
Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company provides cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; cigars and pipe tobacco principally under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco products and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; and on! oral nicotine pouches.