Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Howland Capital Management LLC

Howland Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,780 shares of the company’s stock after selling 329 shares during the quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $361,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 221,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,574,000 after purchasing an additional 699 shares during the period. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. grew its position in Altria Group by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. now owns 270,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,144,000 after buying an additional 6,462 shares in the last quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Altria Group by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC now owns 12,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,000 after buying an additional 953 shares during the period. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Altria Group by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MO shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $52.65 on Monday. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $58.03. The company has a market cap of $89.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.47.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 46.90% and a negative return on equity of 258.72%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 62.29%.

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.