Ascent Group LLC Trims Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. $MO

Ascent Group LLC cut its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 91,162 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,058 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 335,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,158,000 after purchasing an additional 26,624 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,522,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,677,000 after buying an additional 44,303 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 7.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,073,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $797,587,000 after buying an additional 814,665 shares during the period. Viking Fund Management LLC lifted its position in Altria Group by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 202,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,647,000 after buying an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated lifted its position in Altria Group by 155.4% during the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 31,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,062,000 after buying an additional 18,997 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MO shares. Barclays upped their price target on Altria Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Altria Group from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Charles N. Whitaker sold 27,908 shares of Altria Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total transaction of $1,885,743.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 180,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,221,318.33. The trade was a 13.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

MO stock opened at $65.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.41. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.82 and a 1 year high of $70.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $66.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.52.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $5.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.02 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 287.61% and a net margin of 29.84%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is presently 103.16%.

About Altria Group

Altria Group, Inc (NYSE: MO) is a U.S.-based consumer goods company whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company’s operations are focused primarily on the U.S. market and include the production, marketing and distribution of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and cigars. Its flagship cigarette franchise in the United States is sold through its operating subsidiaries and is among the most recognizable cigarette brands in the country.

Altria’s principal operating businesses include Philip Morris USA (cigarettes), U.S.