Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. Sells 2,792 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 21.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,432 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,792 shares during the period. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its position in Altria Group by 103.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. ZRC Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Altria Group by 1,800.0% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target 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 equities research 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.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $42.92. 5,407,793 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,861,269. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.72 billion, a PE ratio of 9.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $42.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.44. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $48.04.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.13%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 85.78%.

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 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often 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.