Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Purchased by Brighton Jones LLC

Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 73.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,712 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,737 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $836,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Altria Group by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,456,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,857,271,000 after buying an additional 840,559 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,609,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,432,000 after acquiring an additional 42,490 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343,094 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,174,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,278,000 after purchasing an additional 722,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Altria Group by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,464,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038,408 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of MO opened at $43.82 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $42.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $47.71.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. The company had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.95%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on MO shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

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.