9,757 Shares in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Bought by Rakuten Securities Inc.

Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $394,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter worth $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter worth $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 103.2% during 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 period. ZRC Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Altria Group by 67.6% during 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 period. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter worth $30,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Altria Group stock traded down $0.20 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $40.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,407,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,885,098. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $48.04. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $41.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.43. The firm has a market cap of $69.99 billion, a PE ratio of 8.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.18 earnings per share. Altria Group’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 85.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price 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. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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.