Ellsworth Advisors LLC Takes $429,000 Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 103.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. ZRC Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 1,800.0% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MO. UBS Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $36.10 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.82.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $43.62. The stock had a trading volume of 9,805,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,809,103. The business’s 50 day moving average is $41.40 and its 200-day moving average is $41.54. The company has a market cap of $76.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. Altria Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.78%.

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.