Ignite Planners LLC Decreases Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Ignite Planners LLC trimmed its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 15.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,566 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,251 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MO. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 1,666.4% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 4,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,000 after acquiring an additional 4,116 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its position in Altria Group by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 20,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $848,000 after purchasing an additional 3,430 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 2,164,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,007,000 after purchasing an additional 77,478 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 562,899 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,670,000 after purchasing an additional 92,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Altria Group by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,328,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,873,000 after purchasing an additional 24,418 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of MO traded up $0.70 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $46.45. 10,220,322 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,307,578. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $39.06 and a twelve month high of $47.19. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.63.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.44%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on MO. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Argus upgraded Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.