Rovin Capital UT ADV Sells 2,869 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Rovin Capital UT ADV reduced its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 15.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,726 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,869 shares during the quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $822,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MO. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,481,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,821,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 57,508,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,935,224,000 after buying an additional 589,832 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,803,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,079,919,000 after buying an additional 1,003,605 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,355,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $562,793,000 after acquiring an additional 191,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 25.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,490,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,703 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:MO opened at $51.04 on Thursday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03. The firm has a market cap of $86.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.92.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MO. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Altria Group in a report on Thursday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.43.

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.