Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Sells 1,153 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. decreased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,083 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,153 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $972,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% in the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

MO stock opened at $40.95 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $41.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.44. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $48.04. The stock has a market cap of $70.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.57%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 85.78%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Altria Group

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.