Lafayette Investments Inc. Has $486,000 Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Lafayette Investments Inc. lowered its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,036 shares of the company’s stock after selling 650 shares during the quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1,800.0% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.56 during trading on Friday, reaching $41.86. The stock had a trading volume of 2,403,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,600,756. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $41.87 and its 200 day moving average is $41.42. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $48.04. The stock has a market cap of $71.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.