Charles N. Whitaker Sells 22,487 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Stock

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at $7,624,665.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $43.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.50. 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.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.15. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 222.80% and a net margin of 34.81%. The business had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on MO shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Altria Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.90.

Institutional Trading of Altria Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Altria Group by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,456,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,857,271,000 after purchasing an additional 840,559 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,609,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,432,000 after acquiring an additional 42,490 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Altria Group by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,279,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,701,000 after acquiring an additional 242,442 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343,094 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Altria Group by 8.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,174,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,278,000 after acquiring an additional 722,258 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.