Cwm LLC Acquires 40,075 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cwm LLC grew its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 22.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 220,511 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,075 shares during the period. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $8,895,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 11,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 48.8% in the third quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 2,964 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 11.3% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 666.7% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Fund Management LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $213,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $42.57 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.06 and a 12 month high of $48.04.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.