Walker Asset Management LLC Sells 1,491 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Walker Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group during the fourth quarter worth $386,000. CNB Bank boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. CNB Bank now owns 3,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 1,062 shares during the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 4,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 96.8% in the fourth quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 12,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $638,000 after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 7,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MO. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.43.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $51.92 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.91. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $58.03. The firm has a market cap 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.86%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 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.