Ritholtz Wealth Management Has $5.09 Million Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 156.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 126,070 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 76,932 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in Altria Group were worth $5,086,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 404,894 shares of the company's stock worth $21,248,000 after buying an additional 6,324 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Altria Group by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,647 shares of the company's stock worth $974,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.4% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,711,773 shares of the company's stock worth $141,690,000 after buying an additional 89,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Western Trust Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter worth $498,000. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE MO traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $43.62. 9,807,499 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,975,794. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.06 and a 1-year high of $48.04. The firm has a market cap of $76.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 244.55% and a net margin of 33.21%. The firm had revenue of $5.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 85.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MO. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group reissued a "sell" rating and set a $36.10 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.82.

Altria Group Company 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.