Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) Shares Sold by Salem Investment Counselors Inc.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. cut its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,408 shares of the company’s stock after selling 667 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MO. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA grew its holdings in Altria Group by 114.3% in the fourth quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 10,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $542,000 after purchasing an additional 5,528 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 117,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,169,000 after buying an additional 5,231 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $270,000. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Altria Group by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $856,000 after buying an additional 3,845 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Price Performance

Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $50.84 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.88. The stock has a market cap of $86.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.25 and a 1-year high of $58.03.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.03. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 233.80% and a net margin of 42.82%. The company had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 68.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup increased their target price on Altria Group from $44.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.33.

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.