Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Sells 1,853 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust decreased its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,453 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,853 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MO. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 103.2% in the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MO traded down $0.01 on Wednesday, reaching $42.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,549,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,823,550. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $48.04. The company has a market cap of $73.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.39, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.44.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company earned $1.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.15%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.78%.

Altria Group declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management 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.