Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stake Lessened by Lincoln National Corp

Lincoln National Corp decreased its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 83,124 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,392 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MO. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $43.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,050,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,849,357. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $46.82. The company has a market cap of $75.32 billion, a PE ratio of 9.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $42.56 and its 200 day moving average is $41.49.

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

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.01%.

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.