Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV Purchases 1,200 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV grew its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,386 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,552,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% in the third quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group during the third quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Altria Group Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of MO stock traded up $0.18 on Thursday, hitting $41.28. The stock had a trading volume of 4,166,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,550,090. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $41.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.43. The company has a market cap of $70.90 billion, a PE ratio of 9.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.50%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.78%.

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

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.