Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC Acquires 34,386 Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO - Free Report) by 80.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,267 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 34,386 shares during the quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC's holdings in Altria Group were worth $3,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Altria Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,981 shares of the company's stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,326 shares of the company's stock valued at $578,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 58,143 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,445,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,738 shares of the company's stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. 57.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MO has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Altria Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. 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 research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.90.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.3 %

MO stock traded up $0.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $46.08. 9,230,410 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,650,640. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.64, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.69. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.06 and a 1 year high of $46.34.

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

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.51%. Altria Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 82.01%.

Altria Group declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total transaction of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

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.

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