Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Acquired by B&D White Capital Company LLC

B&D White Capital Company LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 36.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 423,365 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 113,765 shares during the quarter. Altria Group comprises approximately 5.3% of B&D White Capital Company LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. B&D White Capital Company LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $17,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 108,222.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,590,308 shares of the company's stock valued at $849,763,000 after acquiring an additional 18,573,146 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 84.1% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,426,522 shares of the company's stock valued at $245,823,000 after acquiring an additional 2,478,576 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,302,349 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,896,798,000 after acquiring an additional 2,178,596 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 54.1% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,710,670 shares of the company's stock valued at $198,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,653,455 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,105,285 shares of the company's stock valued at $781,883,000 after acquiring an additional 1,531,337 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Altria Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.2 %

MO traded down $0.10 during trading on Monday, reaching $40.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,722,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,709,571. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.44. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $48.04. The company has a market cap of $70.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.65.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.01. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The business had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. The business's revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.57%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 85.78%.

Altria Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors 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.