Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Sells 986 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC reduced its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 103,486 shares of the company’s stock after selling 986 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $4,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth $3,128,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 293.6% during the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 41,432 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,011,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,727,000 after buying an additional 4,789 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on 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 given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE MO traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $43.49. 9,026,316 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,846,952. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $42.50 and a 200-day moving average of $41.49. Altria Group, Inc. has a one year low of $39.06 and a one year high of $46.82. The stock has a market cap of $74.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.01%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.01%.

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

Insider Activity at Altria Group

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.