Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Has $326,000 Stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 25.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,071 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,761 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $326,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sage Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $225,000. Simmons Bank boosted its stake in Altria Group by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 43,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,763,000 after buying an additional 2,181 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in Altria Group by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 34,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,377,000 after buying an additional 2,878 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 75,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,060,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 5,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 14th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.90.

Insider Activity at Altria Group

In related news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $43.85. The company had a trading volume of 12,050,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,849,357. The firm has a market cap of $75.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.66. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.06 and a fifty-two week high of $46.82. The business’s fifty day moving average is $42.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.50.

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

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.94%. Altria Group’s payout ratio is 82.01%.

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

Altria Group 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.