Wintrust Investments LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Wintrust Investments LLC lessened its stake in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 46.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,566 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,136 shares during the period. Wintrust Investments LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Altria Group by 53.3% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 2,347 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 84,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,331,000 after acquiring an additional 5,318 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Altria Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 49,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 26,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,333,000 after purchasing an additional 5,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 3.9% during the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 6,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Altria Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

Altria Group Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:MO opened at $57.83 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $53.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.23. The company has a market cap of $97.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.65 and a twelve month high of $59.67.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.29%.

Altria Group 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.