Foundry Partners LLC Has $19.77 Million Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Foundry Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 11.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 490,131 shares of the company’s stock after selling 61,080 shares during the period. Altria Group makes up 1.2% of Foundry Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Foundry Partners LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $19,772,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its holdings 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 last quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 677 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a report on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO traded up $0.79 on Friday, hitting $42.09. The stock had a trading volume of 22,325,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,630,883. The stock has a market cap of $72.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.65. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $48.04. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.43.

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

Altria Group declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 9.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

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.