Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. Has $555,000 Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. cut its position in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,750 shares of the company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $555,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MO. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Altria Group in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 103.2% during the third 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 boosted 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 acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on MO shares. StockNews.com downgraded 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 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MO traded down $0.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $43.38. 13,794,252 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,969,122. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.06 and a 52 week high of $48.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.51 billion, a PE ratio of 9.08, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50 day moving average is $42.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.47.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.04%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.