Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stock Position Cut by HighPoint Advisor Group LLC

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 18.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,255 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,531 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,945,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised 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 purchasing an additional 3,910,738 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth about $137,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 59,805,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,218,000 after buying an additional 2,296,972 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in Altria Group by 136.4% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 2,022,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,737,000 after buying an additional 1,166,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 49.3% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,317,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,481,000 after buying an additional 1,096,205 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $58.17 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.60. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.65 and a 52 week high of $59.67. The stock has a market cap of $98.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.88, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. On average, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is 62.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

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.