Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 925 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,573 shares of the company’s stock after selling 925 shares during the period. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MO. Choreo LLC boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 41,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,700,000 after purchasing an additional 4,986 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 22,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $907,000 after buying an additional 2,130 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 12,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its position in Altria Group by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $466,000 after buying an additional 1,372 shares during the period. Finally, Paradigm Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC now owns 30,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,240,000 after buying an additional 2,714 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO opened at $43.81 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $42.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.46. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $48.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.25 billion, a PE ratio of 9.17, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

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 is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.95%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

Altria Group declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MO. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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 reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

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.