Walker Asset Management LLC Trims Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Walker Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,172 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,491 shares during the quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $689,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 420.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter worth $41,000. Fairman Group LLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 85.1% during the third quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 330.4% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 977 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Barclays raised their price target on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $51.92 on Friday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.25 and a 52-week high of $58.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $54.33 and a 200-day moving average of $51.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 42.82% and a negative return on equity of 233.80%. The company’s revenue was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.86%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.92%.

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.