Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Avior Wealth Management LLC

Avior Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,521 shares of the company’s stock after selling 415 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $384,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its position in 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 last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the third quarter worth about $30,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $41.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $70.87 billion, a PE ratio of 9.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50-day moving average of $41.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.42. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut 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 issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

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.