Radnor Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Radnor Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 25,347 shares of the company’s stock after selling 952 shares during the period. Radnor Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,106,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Altria Group by 4,665.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,972,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,241,000 after buying an additional 3,888,907 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted 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 last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,259,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,094 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the fourth quarter worth $525,810,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association increased its position in Altria Group by 103.9% in the fourth quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 1,803,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,742,000 after purchasing an additional 919,058 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Altria Group Stock Performance

Shares of MO stock opened at $45.88 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $44.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $47.19.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15. Altria Group had a net margin of 34.81% and a negative return on equity of 222.80%. The firm had revenue of $4.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.18 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.54%. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $36.10 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Argus raised Altria Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Altria Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Altria Group news, VP Charles N. Whitaker sold 22,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.95, for a total value of $988,303.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 173,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,624,665.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.